I Met You Through Sunlight
by Yukiru13
Summary: Natsumi had no clue what hit her when she first met Miyuki. And now, even after the first day, she's had these crazy thoughts that can't be controlled. What will happen between her and her new partner? NatsumixMiyuki
1. I thought you were crazy

Thank you Kimmy for getting me really hooked on getting my story written.  
The beginning is basically a summary of the first episode, told in the POV of Natsumi Tsujimoto. This is for the people who do not watch the series and want a bit of background info. There will be tidbits of romance in this chapter, though, so it's not a complete summary. :) Hope you enjoy, and I realize I'm a bit rusty!

It all started on my first day. Bokuto Precinct offered firm hours with comfortable atmospheres, and a reputation that was so good it couldn't be ignored. Even though I had been known to be a law-follower, between the time I left my house and the time I arrived at the station I had already been chased around by a crazy police officer, and ended up gaining five traffic violations. However I suppose that she wasn't too crazy, because she did let me off without suspending my license By the time I had arrived at the Bokuto Precinct, my fifteen-minute tardy had expanded to be one hour and twelve minutes exactly. Of course I had to explain every course of action I had taken this morning, in order to fully get a grasp upon the situation, which everyone seemed to enjoy. The only problem is, after I had finished the comical part of the morning, I was going to get some big shocks.  
As I stood up in front of the Bokuto Precinct officers, smiling, I felt a tough and hard hand grasp onto my shoulder. It surprised me for a minute, and when I looked up, it was the Chief, also looking happy (or maybe he was faking). "I totally agree. I want you all to help her out wherever you can. Kobayakawa, come here for a sec."  
"Yes sir," was the reply from a black haired woman, sitting near to the front of the room at her neatly organized desk. She obediently got up and stood in front of the chief and I, and only then did I notice who she was.  
"This is Miyuki Kobayakawa. She was assigned here just this past spring. Natsumi Tsujimoto, it is my privilege to introduce your new partner." I could hear him saying the words next to me, but I couldn't really function, because all I could do was glare at the police officer who had given me such a chase this morning. There was no mistaking that woman, who had chased me around and given me such a hard time while I was trying to get to work.  
"Hi, I'm Miyuki," she said, a hint to her voice that sounded strangely flirtatious, "Pleased to meet you." She was forward enough to reach for my right hand and grab it firmly in a welcoming handshake. And while she smiled, seeming to forget the chase that occurred this morning, all I could say was:  
"A... partner?" It wasn't my fault I couldn't hide the confused annoyance in my voice. She had just been given to me like an old sweater from a dearly loved grandparent, who you couldn't possibly say no to, no matter how ugly that sweater was.  
It wasn't until I had been shown around the Precinct that Miyuki and I had our second encounter. I had, at this point in time during my first day of work, shown my accurate shooting, seen the Precinct Library, taken out a guy during wrestling, and had almost eaten the Precinct out of all their food. This time was spent with Ken Nakajima, and Yoriko Nikaido, who had constantly bickered about almost everything on our entire trip. Most of the time, however, Yoriko slipped me stories and info about how Ken had a "thing" for Miyuki.  
They were, yet again, fighting about Ken being the "typical man" who thought he knew everything, when we rounded the corner. There was Miyuki, and what made everything worse, was she was touching my moto-compo. She was touching my bike. "Look, I gotta go, I gotta discuss something with my new partner," I said, in a hurry, as I dodged away from Ken and Yoriko.  
Miyuki, apparently, didn't hear me coming, and I stood behind her as she leaned over my bike. Crossing my arms, I snapped, "Hey you," and she gasped. "What the heck do you think you're doing with my bike?"  
She turned and smiled calmly at me. "You did quite a number on it this morning. You know, you really ought to be more careful from now on, okay? Oh, I managed to find a new set of gaskets for you. When's the last time you had a tune-up? All in all, I think I have it back up to speck." She brightened up her smile a bit, and finished, "It's the least I could do to welcome my new partner."  
Okay, I don't know about you, but this made me extremely excited to have a free tune-up. I never knew how to pull "baby" back into the ranks of top machines, so having Miyuki do it for free seemed to be a good enough deal. "Oh joy!" I couldn't stop myself from saying, clasping my hands and staring at Miyuki with shining adoration. Then I caught myself. "Duh, not. I mean, what's up with you nosing into my business like that? And how much, and what, do you know about me?"  
"Hmm... let's see. Career history, special skills, ex-boyfriends... that's about all for now, I guess," she kindly listed off, looking up towards the ceiling as she listed off the few things she knew about me.  
"Is that all?" I almost laughed, and then, knowing my idiocy, started revealing everything that was part of my personal history from primary schooling through high school. Sometimes I wonder about my incredible ability to just ramble on and on about myself. I caught myself after I had to stop and think about more information to spill, and tightly slapped my hand over my mouth, shocked at how much I had just spilled over to Miyuki in under a minute.  
But she wasn't surprised. She calmly smiled at me, and said, "I'll be sure to note that in my files."  
I guess it was at that moment that I decided that Miyuki and I just weren't going to work out. I couldn't deal with someone that was so much into data, that knew so much about me, and who dug into my business like it was her own to dig through. I was used to just being Natsumi, and not having my personal files on demand for Miyuki whenever she decided to access them. That, and I must have still been a little angry about getting those traffic violations so accurately pinned onto me this morning.  
We started to get ready for our first patrol, as she started listing off what districts we'd be patrolling, when our hours were, what the best food was for dinner, blah blah blah. "I don't like oysters," I interjected into her conversation, hearing the trunk of her police car close.  
"You're kidding!"  
"'Fraid not. That, and there's a few other things too." I started, coming over to the vehicle and leaning against the top. I propped up my head with my right hand, and looked at her straight in the eye. "Look, this might be rude, but I'm just going to come out with it. I don't think I can make this work out with you," I said, confident and strong, and then started to list off all of the things that made me feel so weird about this partnership, like her data absorption, and her stopping traffic-crime addiction.  
She listened, and then said, "Yeah... there is no way of knowing if we'll become really good partners." She followed by lead and leaned against the top of the car, her chin resting upon her hands, and she said, "But, you know, I will let you in on a little secret of mine. And, that is... well, that I'm really," she paused, her vivid blue eyes softening with emotion, "I'm really starting to like you."  
And it was that moment that the sun came through the leaves, almost like in a romance novel. My eyes widened with sudden understanding, and the wind blew my brown hair gently. She closed her eyes and continued to lean on her hands, and I watched her, as if I was entranced by the way the sun hit her hair and lit up her face.  
And that was when my heart first skipped a beat for Miyuki.  
"I've got an idea," she said, snapping me out of my hypnotic trance and standing up, "I'll toss this coin. And if it comes up tails, we'll talk to the Captain and have us re-assigned. And if it comes up heads..."  
I smiled, standing up, and said, "then I'll team up with you, huh?"  
She nodded, then pulled the coin down in her hand, and flicked the coin high up into the air. It hit the sunlight coming through the trees, and then came down to land on the back of her hand, where her other hand caught it and covered the result. She closed her eyes, "Our partnership," she reopened her eyes, "is in my hands."  
As her white-gloved hands pulled away from the coin, I could feel my breath being held, or getting shallower, as if I was scared to know what answer it would be. I had wanted to stop being partners, and now why was I so scared to know whether or not we'd be separated? And then, as if right on cue, a red mini popped out of nowhere, screeching to a halt in front of us, and then zooming right off.  
Ken, following close behind, wheeled after it, and Miyuki said, "Let's get in on this!"We zoomed off, following at a speedy pace, until Ken went down. It was at that point in time that my stomach burned with acid, as Miyuki stuck her head out the window, watching Ken roll over and his bike land in the sand. "Oh my god, Ken!" she screamed out of the window. For some reason, it pissed me off to see that much compassion in her voice for the other biker.  
But it didn't last long, as he told us to get after the crazy red mini. Thought Miyuki was worried (it was too obvious), we sped off after him, and took over the chase.  
"Hey partner..." Miyuki started, as we sat near a controlled body of water after our extreme chase that ended in both a failure to catch the mini, but a success in finding my lost lunch from this morning. "You ever think about moving?" I was confused at first as she started to list off some things that her "moving place" would have. I didn't understand until she said "and not to mention a pretty great room mate, to boot.""Are you suggesting that, you and I, we should live together?"  
She smiled, "Well, I could guarantee that you wouldn't be late for work anymore.""What're you up to?" I said, very curious of her motives, while tapping my chopsticks together.  
"Well, you know it's not really safe for a woman to be living alone," she said truthfully, though it kind of ticked me off. What was that supposed to me?  
"Chyea, so what am I?"  
"My bodyguard!"  
I accidentally snapped my chopsticks after that reply. "Oh god! A fate worse than death! I've lost my appetite..." I pouted, looking away, until I saw a fork come towards me with something bright and yellow on the end of it.  
"Open up and say 'ahh'."  
"Aaaah-" I tried snapping at the pickled vegetable on the end of her fork, but she pulled it away from me and ate it herself. As she chewed, she looked somewhat confident, and then yelled, "Ah! What is this! It's so sour!"  
I couldn't help but laugh at her surprised and agonizing facial expression. It was so funny to see how unprepared she was for something as little as a sour pickled vegetable. I pulled at the corner of my mouth and eyes with my fingers, and made idiotic sounds at her, imitating her slightly, and she growled, "Why you..." and pulled her cheeks and stuck out her tongue at me.  
We stopped, for two seconds, and then let go of our faces and started laughing. Ah, the great feeling of idiocy. But, remembering how many incidents my idiocy had cost me today, I remembered the coin toss, deciding our partnership. "Hey, was it heads or tails on that coin toss?"  
"My gosh, I completely forgot!"  
"Well here, let me do it," I said, passing her my food container.  
"Be my guest," she replied, giving me the coin of fate from earlier and standing up.  
"Gracias!" I said, standing up with her as I held the coin comfortably in my right hand. "All right-ay," I smirked, looking out into the water.  
"Good luck" she said, backing up slightly and watching me, as she held the containers of our shared dinner.  
I took a deep breath in, for some reason needing to prepare myself to throw the coin toss. It was now or never, the fate of our partnership now rested in my hands rather than Miyuki's, and the whole feeling made me feel... queasy, in a way. "How 'bout this!" I yelled, hearing my echo come off of the bridge, as I threw the coin with every ounce of strength I had towards the water. I didn't care anymore, and even though I was so set against Miyuki just a few hours ago, I really didn't care anymore. This was going to work. I swore that it was. 


	2. Keep It Quiet

Chapter Two: Keep it quiet 

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All right. Second chapter started! I had sudden writing muse at about… midnight, last night. It came to me, and it was so beautiful that I was like "ALL RIGHT. LET'S POST IT."

Thank you Ominae for pointing out my typo in the first chapter. It has been fixed, and I dunno what I was thinking with my spelling. I should know better than that. :P I'm hoping this chapter attracts more people, so hope for the best!

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It all started off in an early Tokyo spring. I love the spring and summer the most out of the year, and this spring, comparative to the past springs, was the most beautiful. The cherry blossom trees were in full bloom, sprinkling pink and white petals around the town. Of course, the weather was nice and warm, sunny without the clouds on the side, and those blue skies… it was how you could get lost in a spring day without actually feeling it. The air around you, the warm breeze, everything just sort of fell into place, and made the whole world seem like it was all right.

I had finally been assigned to a precinct, Bokuto Precinct, on one of those perfect spring days. My life in Tokyo was going to become a lot busier, but I was ready for it. With views like this, how could I not? I was ready for anything and everything, and my life was going to be the best from that point on. I was dedicated to my work, clear and specific with my patrols, and cheerful with my associates.

But… it was that one man who, in particular, stood out. Motorcycle Patrol, the White Hawk of Bokuto, Ken Nakajima. He was very sweet and polite, like an honest gentleman. He was eager to help me out, and see that I could get around the Precinct without a guide or a map, and made the first day really easy for me. He did have trouble forming complete sentences without his tongue tying, but there was something about Ken that seemed special.

It didn't take long, however, for the whole precinct to know that Ken had an attraction towards me. And, at that time, I was happy with that. I thought most of the talk about Ken and I was just rumors and gossip. Ken was still the same caring, polite and tongue-tied gentleman I had met during my first day at Bokuto. If I was going to believe anything that was said about an attraction between Ken and myself, I would only believe it when Ken said it.

To be honest, I did fancy the idea that Ken was attracted to me. It was flattering, and strange yet wonderful at the same time. Was it possible that I, Miyuki Kobayakawa, could feel an attraction towards Ken as well?

Of course it was. But… that was before the summer came…

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When I first met Natsumi, she was making traffic violations left and right. My thorough job as a patrol woman (and a very skilled driver) forbade me to let her go. Even during the summer there is no break for a policewoman, and I wasn't even going to let Natsumi off for a minute.

You may be wondering at this point in time how I recognized Natsumi before I had actually met her…

I had been waiting for her for three days. My new patrol partner, as the Captain had advertised to me only three days ago. She was new, and was assigned here just as I had been during the spring. My new partner…

She hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was scared at first, especially after the first impression I must have made on her. Natsumi had a grudge the moment I had finally caught her speeding on her moto-compo. She and I were already on the wrong foot, and we hadn't even been officially assigned as partners… I wasn't sure how she was going to take the news, or how she was going to react, and it was scary to think about. Already the partner that I had researched on the database, who I thought sounded just perfect, was going to hate the work she was doing, and it would probably be because of me…

But, things didn't work out like that. In a few months, we had gone from being awkward partners to best friends. It had been one of the fastest transitions I had ever had. But I liked it. I really liked it.

You see, Natsumi is the type of girl that never gives up. Her energy is what keeps everything fun and exciting. She's a go-getter that is determined to win, no matter what. Even though she's a boozehound and completely stubborn, those are only a few bad qualities out of a lot of good. I found out a lot of these qualities while we spent more and more time together. But… nothing hit me quite as hard as when I realized why these qualities affected me so much.

It started out when Natsumi hesitated to tell me she was going to leave Bokuto Precinct to be a part of the motorcycle patrol units. News spreads fast in Bokuto, whether it's public or private, and normally Yoriko is the one who spills information to me. But this time… Ken told me. He told me about Natsumi's decision, and how she was trying to work up enough courage to come and talk to me. And what was I supposed to do about it? Beg her to stay? Not likely.

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At the time, I was working on my famous police car. Mechanics made my mind work so hard that I forgot stressful subjects. It had been almost a week since Ken had talked to me about Natsumi, but it was burned fresh in my mind that she was going to tell me sooner or later. She had to…

"Hey, Miyuki…?"

I dropped the wrench I was holding, accidentally, as she spoke to me. My back was turned to her, and I took a minute to build the strongest wall I could, so that I could receive her without crying. I turned on my stool, and smiled warmly at her. "Hi Natsumi. Is something wrong?" I asked, knowing just from her tone of voice that it was probably the moment when she would tell me that she was going to be leaving.

She was leaning slightly on her left hand, while it clutched the large doorway of the garage. She was still dressed in her uniform, even though we were now off duty and our next patrol wouldn't be until tomorrow. She looked at me, her soft red-brown eyes cautious, and then looked towards the ground. "Miyuki," she said, a little louder, taking a step into the garage and looking back into my eyes, "are you sure that… you know, you'll be okay… without me?"

I showed no sign that my walls were crumbling now. Trying to keep my face straight, to pull off a good act, I slowly reached for a towel, and wiped the grease off of my gloves. They weren't particularly dirty, but it was more of a way to squeeze something so the building tears wouldn't fall. I tried to smile at her, so it seemed natural, and replied, "Of course it is, Natsumi. I'll be fine. Don't worry."

Apparently I wasn't the only one hiding tears. Natsumi bit her bottom lip, looking away from me again, as if she was going to turn and run off now. My answer must have been the opposite of the one she wanted. "… Okay…" she almost whispered, and I stopped playing with the towel, watching her with worry and sadness building. Natsumi turned sideways, so at least they weren't looking at each other anymore, and said, "I… uh… gotta finish some paperwork… and then I have to leave… for training," she told me, hesitant with her choice of wording. "So… I'll see you later… partner," she finished, turning her back to me.

She started to walk away, and I watched her silently, until I said, "Good luck, Natsumi…" unsure if she heard me or not. I squeezed the dingy yellow towel tightly in my hands, with all the force I could muster, trying not to cry out after her. It was a good thing that she had turned her back and started to walk away from me.

If she hadn't, she would have seen me crying.

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"Do you miss her?"

"A little…" I said, as Ken and I stood on the roof one day. She had been gone for only a few weeks, but it had already begun to feel like she had been gone for years. Truth be told, I still stayed up late at night crying about it.

"Did she speak to you yesterday? After the parade?"

Yesterday… It was only yesterday when I last spoke to Natsumi? I saw her yesterday? Then why did it feel like it had been so much longer than that? I crossed my arms and propped them on top of the railing that wrapped around the edge of the rooftop. "Yes… she did."

I couldn't face Ken, not at this moment, when speaking about Natsumi brought tears to my eyes. I could feel them building up, and tried to find something along the ground to look at, anything that I could be distracted by. Yoriko and the Captain were talking, and laughing, and I smiled lightly. "I don't know when I'll see her again, Ken…"

I could feel his eyes suddenly turn to me. "And… I'm so scared…" I continued, "that I'll never see her again…!" It was hard to admit this, and I grasped my elbows firmly in my hands. What if I never got to see Natsumi's smiling face ever again? What if I never got into another high-speed chase again with the best partner, and the only partner, I had ever had?

"Ken! Miyuki! Come quick!" Yoriko was yelling at us, waving her arms frantically as the Captain ran back inside, "We're being called for immediate back-up!"

Well, you didn't have to tell me twice.

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"What a _day_," I said, stretching as I stepped out of the bathroom. Nothing beat a hot shower after a high-speed, memory-inspiring car chase. Memory inspiring to the point that every time I thought about it, I thought about Natsumi. I winced, closing my eyes, and breathed deeply, "Pull it together, Miyuki."

I had barely begun to open my eyes when a soft knock on my door echoed through my small apartment. _'A little late for this, isn't it?'_ I thought, walking gingerly towards the front door. My hand reached for the door handle, and the fabric of my purple pajamas rustled softly as I turned the handle, and said, "Hello?"

A slightly unsure, but smiling face greeted me at my doorway. Brown hair cropped around chin-length, and deep red-brown eyes. The uniform she wore was white, with a brown coat and teal covered pants. A helmet was hugged against her side, and as I took all of this in, I stared, shocked and in awe.

"Hey, partner," she smiled, looking at me with a glitter in her eyes. There was no mistaking it. Natsumi was in my doorway.

"N-Natsumi. What are yo—"

"Look, I'm not that good with the huge opening, all right?" she interrupted me, and used her free hand to scratch at the back of her head nervously. "… I … I wanted to know," she started, looking hesitant," if you wanted your partner back…?"

As I stood there, with Natsumi in front of me, shocked beyond belief, something broke inside of me. Perhaps the remnants of the wall I had been building to keep my sadness away, ever since that day in the garage. But it broke, completely. Sudden tears erupted from my eyes, and I released a shaky breath. I was unable to control myself, as the tears cascaded down my face, and I threw myself into her arms.

I clung to her as if my life depended on it, and she held me in a tight hug. "Natsumi… oh my god, Natsumi…" I sobbed into her shoulder, clutching her riding jacket in my hands. "Yes. Yes, I want my partner back!" She started to stroke my long, unbraided hair, and whispered:

"I'm back, Miyuki. I'm home."


	3. As if my heart deceived me

Chapter Three: As if my heart deceived me 

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Okay… it has been a long time… I've had general craziness because of weddings to go to, issues with school, stuff like that. . I also have lacked any muse for about two weeks, and everything's just…. Blegh.

But yeah… I needed something… Thank you for giving me the satisfaction that I am actually writing something worthwhile! It makes me so happy!!! For all my readers (coughcoughtwoIthinkcoughcough) I want to know how many chapters you would like this story to be. I do have a magnificent ending coming up, but the middle bits are sort of hard to plan. (Please do not ask for unlimited chapters; 25 is my limit .)

Also, lemme add, that Miyuki wearing purple pajamas was something I just thought of (since all of my Sims in the Sims 2 wear purple pajamas) and when I saw her wearing them in one of the episodes I saw AFTER I posted the chapter… god that was amazing.

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I should have known that there was something keeping me close to Bokuto station, besides the fact that I had a slight obsession with the constant flow of rumors, traffic violations, and daily stampede of craziness. There was something that pulled me there, even when I was hung over, and even when I was too tired to pay attention. It wasn't the badge, or he call of protecting the people of Tokyo. I barely knew what it was…

… but I think it was her.

That night, as I drove home through the dark streets on my motorcycle, I had a mission. It was cold, it was dark, but I was determined. I had to get home. My bike could carry me there, as it had done countless times before. It purred smoothly, itching to ride far, as was expected from a bike made from Miyuki's craftsmanship.

'_Miyuki…'_ I thought, remembering my partner in crime. I was going to be there soon. It had been almost a week, not like I had been counting or anything. But, I couldn't deny that I missed her, more than I ever had before, but we had never been apart for this long since we had met. It hurt in a way to be away from her, for reasons I didn't quite know. It was just the one thing that pulled two friends together, the bond that keeps them friends forever, y'know?

But her apartment was in the distance, so close that I could see it, so far that I could still say I was _almost_ there. Her room was on the top floor, third window to the left, and the lights were still on. I rolled over my left wrist to look at my watch, and saw the numbers 12:01 through my visor. _'She's up late for a weeknight…'_ I thought, leaning in towards the right as I came in towards the apartment buiding.

I made sure to roll in softly, not wanting to attract too much attention, and practically walked my bike into the parking space. As I turned off the ignition, I looked up to Miyuki's apartment window, less easy to see here as it was on the road, and smiled. I unclipped my helmet, got off my bike, and started quietly up the stairs. I was nervous; I wanted to see her, but would she be happy to see me? After we had been apart for so long? I didn't know the answer. Miyuki was so hard to read sometimes. She didn't even cry when I left. It hurt, and now I didn't know what to expect, which was mostly how our partnership had operated anyways. Before I knew it, I stood in front of the door, feeling my heart swell, and I wondered, _'Is this the right choice?'___And slowly, I knocked on the door, holding my breath, preparing for a bad reaction, or the unthinkable news that she didn't want me because she had a new partner…

But all I received were her tears and the warmest hug I could imagine.

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"Miyuki, we're going to be _late_!" I shouted, rather impatient. For the first time ever, I was ready to go before Miyuki was.

"I'm coming!" her sweet voice replied from the other room as she stepped out. In the past half hour, Miyuki had gone through five outfits, three pairs of jewelry, and four pairs of shoes. Now she was wearing a yellow shirt, with an ironed white vest and light blue jeans. "Maybe I should switch these earrings. They look so old, and maybe jeans aren't—"

"Oh my god, Miyuki!" I interrupted, slapping the back of my hand against my forehead, and said dramatically, "I can't let dear Kenny think that I'm old because of my earrings, or that I'm unprofessional because I'm wearing jeans! Oh, what a thought! A fate worse than death, by far!"

As prompted, she blushed, and I smirked and rolled my eyes. "Let's _go_. Sena and Daimaru have probably been waiting _hours_ in the time it's taken you to decide on this outfit! Kenny probably thinks you're not going to come or something!"

"Oh my god, it's been that long?!" she looked amazingly surprised, and quickly looked at the clock. "We only have twenty minutes to get there?! Oh no, we're going to be completely late! C'mon Natsumi, let's go!" I barely had enough time to turn around as she ran past me, picking up the food that she had prepared early this morning (she was up a good four hours before I was) and ran out the door, keys jingling on top of the food containers.

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"Sorry we're late!" she said, as soon as we had gotten to _Zapper_, where Daimaru and Sena were living, along with running the shop. Much to my surprise, Ken wasn't in the room. Not that it bothered me anyways, but he was probably getting cold feet. _'Idiot…'_ I thought, and watched as Sena came over to Miyuki, took the food, and promptly gave her a hug.

"It's so good to have company! Kenny got here early this morning to help set up, and I know that Daimaru was just waiting for some company!" she said, cheerful as usual, as I noticed the white head of Daimaru peek out from the doorway.

"Hey pops!" I greeted, and his laughter clearly echoed from the other room.

"C'mon now son, you can't hide from your little girlfriend forever, y'know!"

"B-b-but Dad, she's not my girlfriend! She's just a girl that's a friend, from work, you know?"

"Now now, m'boy," Daimaru's voice suddenly became a little louder as he finally came into the room. I stole a glance over to Miyuki, who was staring at the doorway, blushing up a storm and staring, waiting for Ken to come out. She had heard his voice, and she knew that he was here. "You can't keep good company waiting!"

Daimaru reached into the other room, and pulled out a hesitating Ken Nakajima. "Hey Miyuki. Hey Natsumi. Look who finally showed up, huh?" Daimaru laughed, as Ken looked over to the both of us. I quickly walked a little closer to Miyuki and whispered,

"You gotta control that blushing, Miyuki."

She clasped her hands together in front of her, looking towards the ground now, clearly embarrassed, and said, "It's good to see you, Father Nakajima," and bowed. She was always so formal around him, and it drove me crazy, but Daimaru just smiled.

"There, Kenny, say hi already! It's only going to take you a million years if you don't do it now!"

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It was a good few hours later before we had dinner, but in that time, Ken and Miyuki had _finally_ started talking. Daimaru and I went to go look at some of the bikes that Daimaru was working on, where I was the tester of the mechanics and how the bike ran. He enjoyed letting me do this job, and I had to say that I did too. Meanwhile, Sena had Kenny and Miyuki in the other room, preparing dinner, and talking.

As we sat down, I was ready to eat a cow. "Man, looks great Sena!" I said, almost drooling over the food. Miyuki quickly pushed on the bottom of my jaw, closing my mouth, and sighed. I knew that this was just her sarcastic little way of noticing how childish I could sometimes be, but it was still something. "What, I'm just being honest!" I said, defending myself, but still smiling.

"To a great day and great company!" Daimaru quickly said, holding up his glass of champagne, and the rest of us followed suite. "Cheers!" rang the chorus, along with much laughter and then, finally, eating. Miyuki's cooking was wonderful, and mine wasn't that bad, but Sena's cooking could have won the "Gourmet Chef" award or something. It was rare that I ate her food, but every time I did, it made me feel like I could die and go to heaven.

"So, Miyuki, Ken, have you guys gone on any more dates recently?"

Oh Daimaru, I could have hugged you for asking that. Almost immediately, Ken dropped his chopsticks, and Miyuki paused mid-way between putting down her drink. "U-Uh…" Miyuki said, her mouth hanging open, looking towards the table trying to avoid eyes.

"Dad! How many times do I have to tell you! It's not like that!" Ken said, looking at Daimaru, who merely waved his comment away.

"Well, Ken, lemme give it to you straight. If you don't get this girl, then someone will, and by the time you actually ask her to go out with you or whatnot, she could already be taken by some wonderful guy." Daimaru seemed to have planned this speech, but he did have his way with words when it came to finding a wife for his little boy. "So you better just ask her now, or else you might lose your chance!"

"B-But Dad…!"

"No buts, son!"

As their argument went on, I looked away from them, and looked at Miyuki. She was still staring at the tablecloth, her eyes trying to focus on something, though they were a lot… glossier than usual. I could feel my eyes widen, and I looked at her hands, to notice that they held her chopsticks, and she was shaking. "Miyuki…?" I whispered, and she seemed to jump slightly by my words. Just enough movement for a tear to slide down her face.

And for some reason, that really pissed me off.

"God, Kenny, don't you get it?!" I said, standing up and slamming my hands down on the countertop. Daimaru and Ken stopped their argument, and stared at me, along with Sena and Miyuki. "Either ask her or don't, but you don't have to act like you don't like her right in front of Miyuki, okay?!" I said, angry at something; I didn't know why.

I looked at Miyuki, who had tears still in the corner of her eyes, and furrowed my eyebrows. I grabbed her hand, and pulled her up. "Thanks for the great day Pops, Sena, but we have to go." And I started walking away, and Miyuki came with me, as I held her hand and barely had to pull.

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"Natsumi…"

I closed the door to her car behind me, and looked at her from the passenger seat. She was still holding her tears back, though in the time it had taken to get back to the car she had wiped away most of them. "Why…?"

I blinked, and then stared at her again. Why? Why had I done that? Why had I just totally made a fool out of myself in front of the Nakajimas? Why did I act so strangely? I pouted, and looked up at the roof of the car, taking a deep breath and then letting it out quickly. "Because you were upset…" I said, not looking at her again quite yet, "Because I didn't know what else to do…" My eyes flicked from the roof of the car to the dashboard, and then I turned to her, looking into her eyes, and said, "Because I didn't want them to make you cry."

Either my confession confused her, or she was just shocked, but she looked at me for a moment and then looked at the windshield. My eyes drifted too, as I pulled my arm up and reached to put on my seat belt. I had just pulled it across my body when a small voice said, "Thank you." I looked up, seatbelt still not buckled, and saw Miyuki with her forehead to the steering wheel. "Thank you, Natsumi."

My shoulders dropped, and I slowly released the seatbelt, letting it slide back into the holder, and looked at her. She was crying. I looked at her, hearing her softly sobbing, seeing the tears wash down her steering wheel, and then reached over and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "Anytime, Miyuki," I said, holding her as she started to cry again, "It's okay. I'm gonna protect you. I'm here."

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… I do think it was her. That kept me at Bokuto, and that kept me with her. I think it was the fact that I couldn't let her go, or that I had to be there for her. I think that without really knowing, she had become more to me than someone ever had as my best friend. She had become someone I cared about, and that I wanted to take care of…

I think I was starting to love her…


	4. Life turns my way

Chapter Four: Life turns my way 

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Hmm… So, besides the fact that I am, amazingly, a NatsumixMiyuki fan, but I am also a MAJOR KonoSetsu shipper. If anyone is familiar with Mahou Sensei Negima, you know what I'm talking about. Such a great couple. Might do my next yaoiai fic on them… Good idea?

And I love how I get more reviews every chapter! Makes me so happy. And, oh my goodness, I'm _replying_ to your reviews now. O AMAZING.

Back to Miyuki, now…

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Ever since the dinner with Daimaru and Sena, everything has been… different. Not just because Natsumi and I had left so abruptly, but because of everything that had happened. It wasn't so much, not like a life-changing experience, but I remember staying in the car for a long time, with Natsumi trying to hold me as best as she could from the other side of the car. It was one of the little things that Natsumi did from time to time. Just a little thing to show how much she cared. It was sort of the thing that took your breath away, or made you wonder if this really was the same Natsumi that you knew all along. It was one of the kindest things she's ever done for me…

Well, that's Natsumi for you. She's very headstrong when she wants to be, but she's not much when it comes to comfort. Or helping. Or being considerate. But… that's just how Natsumi is. Because when she is comforting, or helps, or is considerate, it makes her seem even more amazing than someone who does it out of habit. So, being held by her, only a short ways away from _Zapper_, it made everything almost melt away. That was how much it had an effect on me. She didn't mind that I cried, she didn't shush me, or try to rush anything. She just stayed there, and held me.

But even after that day, nothing could erase what she had said in front of the Nakajimas. Ken was still going to be at work the next day. He was going to see us, and I was going to see him. What was I supposed to do about it? I felt embarrassed, ashamed almost because of the way Natsumi acted, and how quickly we left, without anything to give them. I couldn't even imagine what they thought now, after such an abrupt exit, almost like it was in a drama.

How was I supposed to face Kenny when we got to work?

That question rang through my mind as I drove in my little blue car, with Natsumi sitting next to me in the passenger seat. I had no clue if she was thinking the exact same thing that I was, but I knew that if she wasn't, then I was doing enough for the both of us. '_Kenny…'_ I thought, twitching once involuntarily, and continued to look out into the road. What was he going to think when we got there? No doubt he would _have_ to talk to us about something at some point in time today. And what was going to happen when he did talk to me? _'What am I going to say to him…?'_ I pondered again, but there was no answer popping up in my head like normal.

"He's not going to hate you."

I had almost forgotten that Natsumi was sitting next to me, she had been so quiet. I glanced her direction slightly, and then focused back on the road. "What do you mean?" I asked, my grip tight on the wheel. I was trying to hold up appearances; I didn't want to have another breakdown today. I had to pull it together.

"He's not going to hate you. For yesterday, I mean. He's going to be upset at himself." Natsumi's voice was calm this morning, and almost soothing in a way. "But…" she paused, and as I slowed to a stop for a traffic light, I looked at her. "He's not going to blame you for yesterday, Miyuki," she said, looking at me straight in the face with her red-brown eyes. "So don't worry about today. He's going to be as eccentric as always, so just be normal."

Traffic stood still, in that moment, as we looked at each other. I stared at her with awe, with adoration of a child to a parent, a way that I had never looked at her before. She just looked back, calmly, into my eyes, holding onto the top of the doorframe through the open window. It was as if time had stood still, and we were lost in it, for the time being. Her eyes glanced out the window, and she turned to look forward, and said, "The light's green."

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Back at the station, I was something of a nervous wreck. I didn't know what to expect from Kenny, and truthfully, Natsumi's little pep talk this morning in the car wasn't helping. I took my time changing in the locker room, almost matching Natsumi's slow pace, and stared at the bottom of the locker. I just couldn't get him out of my mind. It was bothering me that I had left so soon, and it made me feel so foolish. As I started to button up my shirt, a shrill cackle filled the air, and Natsumi and I looked over towards the door at the same time.

As expected, Yoriko grinned maniacally at us, and my eyes widened. She knew a scoop, and we were her victims to spill it to. "So, Miss Miyuki Kobayakawa…" she said, pushing up the frame of her glasses with one finger, as she smiled deviously, "You were over at Kenny's parent's house yesterday, huh?"

"U-Uh…" I said, lightly blushing, turning to her as if to defend myself. But I had no words to say. What could I possibly say to deny the truth? "Yes… Natsumi and I went over for dinner…" I answered cautiously, turning back to look at my locker, buttoning the last few buttons on my top.

Yoriko chuckled, and then came close to me in a matter of seconds. She pointed a finger in my face, and said accusingly, "And something happened, didn't it?!" I froze again, before shutting my locker, and stared at the open space in the metal box. I could feel the tension in this situation, and it emanated from me like light from a light bulb. A really really big light bulb. I couldn't bring myself to answer, and as I slowly closed the locker door, I heard Yoriko gasp, and then start whining.

"That'll be enough out of you," Natsumi said from behind me, holding Yoriko by the collar, and Yoriko whined again. I looked at Natsumi with a soft expression, feeling my eyes start to tear up again, but I wasn't about to cry. Natsumi stood there, eyes closed, holding Yoriko back tight, oblivious to her whining.

"Thanks, Natsumi," I said, and Natsumi put her down. Yoriko wasn't very happy to have been grasped and hoisted by the collar so early in the morning, but that was Natsumi's way of controlling the little gossip-hound. Yoriko moved a few steps away from Natsumi, and continued to whine about how unfair everything was. "For everything this morning… as well…" I decided to add, as Natsumi stood next to me, and she only looked at me curiously and smiled.

"Why are you guys always so mean to me? I just want to know what's going on! That's all I wanted to know!" Yoriko whined, and I closed my eyes and sighed for a moment. Could we ever get her to be quiet?

"Listen Yoriko , some things you're not supposed to know, got it?" Natsumi said, as we all started to head towards the door. I led the way, with Natsumi and Yoriko arguing behind me. _'Those two can never get along…' _I thought, and reached over to open the door, pulling on the cold metal door handle, and then walking out, only to hit someone in the hallway…

As I stepped back, recoiling, I said, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was goi—" I stopped as I finally opened my eyes, and looked up. The White Hawk of Bokuto. Kenny. The chatter behind me suddenly quieted, and I looked up at Ken, while he looked down at me. "Nakajima…" I gasped, looking up through his glasses, and suddenly felt more embarrassed than I had beforehand when I had actually crashed into him.

"K-Kobayakawa…" he stuttered back to me, and I could feel the tears that were welling up before want to make another appearance. The guilt came over me, and I felt so bad. There was so much I wanted to say, but my words were lost, and I could feel my hands shaking. All I could hear in my heads were his defying cries that we weren't boyfriend and girlfriend, which was true, but still cut, and cut deep.

I felt something press into my back, and looked over my shoulder to see Natsumi there. She looked at Ken too, but in a different way I did. She had more of a serious look for him, while mine was full of worry and apologies. "Sorry Kenny, but we gotta go," she said, smiling, as if nothing was wrong, as she grabbed my arm and started pulling me off towards the traffic division. I lost sight of Yoriko as she pulled me off, and we left Ken standing there, looking dazed.

And for some reason, I was both glad and sad that I had been pulled away…

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"Natsumi, that really wasn't necessary…" I told her later, as we were driving in our little patrol car, with a law violator in the back seat.

"Whattt?" she groaned, prolonging the word as she said it. "I'm sorry if he ran. I had to chase him down, let him no who's boss, you know!" True to her word, the young man had tried to run off as soon as we pulled over his motorcycle. But that still didn't mean that she had to carry him so roughly that by the time we got back to the patrol car, he was almost fainted.

"That's not what I meant." My tone was sharper, more tart than I meant it to be. I was still hurting because of this morning, and as Natsumi clicked in her seatbelt, she looked up at me. "I meant this morning. With Nakajima. You shouldn't have taken me away like that…"

I tried to look forward, with my hands on the wheel, though we weren't driving yet. I didn't want to face her, even though I was sounding unusually stern about something. I did, however, chance a glance and saw her eyebrows furrowed, a frustrated look on her face. "Don't need to sound ungrateful," she replied sharply, probably to match my tone, as she propped her elbow up onto the window-frame of her door. _'Is it just me or…'_ I thought, now looking at her, with a softer glance, as she glared out the window, _'does she sound… angry?'_

"I… didn't mean it like that, Natsumi…" I tried to explain, but she just shook her head shortly, and pressed her lips together, like she was trying to hold back a remark.

"Let's just go back and turn this guy in."

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The rest of our day was quiet. Natsumi and I hardly spoke to each other, and, to be honest, it hurt even more than this morning had with Nakajima. I was so used to Natsumi's energetic chatter that it hurt to not have it. It made the whole room seem quieter, because Yoriko and Aoi were so quiet when they spoke to each other, that it was normally Natsumi who made the room loud. That, and because she wasn't speaking to me, I really didn't feel like speaking to anyone. The rest of the ride back to the station was silent, and it had been ever since. _'I wonder if she's still mad about what I said earlier…'_ I thought, putting down my pencil for a moment to look at Natsumi, who was, for once, attentively doing her work.

"Tsujimoto?"

I looked up from my desk at the sound of his familiar voice, even though Kenny had called for Natsumi instead of me. Natsumi looked up at him, raising an eyebrow, and said, "What?" She was clearly frustrated from her tone of voice, and I looked back to my papers, feeling guilty.

"Can I talk to you?" This was certainly odd. Kenny had never asked Natsumi for anything, and everyone looked at him when he said it. Except for me. All I heard was Natsumi sigh, and get up out of her chair. "It won't take long. I promise," he said in a hurry, and she passed by me without so much as a word. It felt cold as she passed by, and I could feel more tears again. I was just not having a good day. My partner, my best friend, was ignoring me, and I didn't know what I did to deserve it…

As Ken and Natsumi walked out into the hallway, I softly picked up my pencil, and started to work again. I had to stop thinking about Natsumi. She would talk to me when she wasn't angry. Besides… she had to come home and eat dinner at some point in time.

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Just as I had predicted, Natsumi started talking to me about the time that we had gotten home, and by the time I had finished dinner. She had spent some time in her room, and then everything seemed to be back to normal. She didn't seem too mad. And, after she had eaten, she was back to her normal self. She settled into the couch, a beer in hand, and sipped from it occasionally as she watched the TV. I was just finishing the dishes when I looked over, and saw a small smile on her face. _'Is something good on?'_ I thought, looking quickly, but it was just wrestling. She liked wrestling, but never watched it with a smile one her face. Maybe she was trying to hold back her excitement or something.

"Hey, Natsumi?"

"Huh?" she answered, looking over her shoulder to face me, as I stood in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Um…" this was a question I had been holding back for hours now, and I couldn't hold it back any longer, "What did Nakajima want… this afternoon?" I was drying my hands on my apron, a little more thorough than I normally did, because of my nerves.

But she just smiled at me, her eyes shining. "You'll find out, sooner or later," she said, and then turned back to watch her wrestling match.

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Yay! Hurray for another chapter! I love cliffhangers, in case you didn't notice. From this point on, you're going to be in for a lot of them. 3

**Review Replies:**

**Ominae:** As always, thank you for your quick reviews! I'm trying to go with a subtle approach to this series, so as not to rush and make it go too fast (like many fics do). Hopefully this chapter doesn't give away too many hints on what's going to come…

**Hunter49a:** … YAY! Not tons to go off with your review, but if you're "YAY"ing the N/M ness, then thank you!!

**Kimmy:** YES. I did get it back. I waited to try to tell you, but I never saw you, and it made me very sad. ( You're my inspiration, though, so you really get my going on every chapter. -huggles-

**Syaoran Li Clow**: … You really amazed me with such a long review. Your review made me so happy when I got it, and I almost started crying there was so many things in there that made me feel like I'm actually doing a good job. You boosted my spirits big time- thank you. Also, I'm not too far into the series (1st season I just finished disc 7) so I don't know about Natsumi and her guy (I know that there is a guy, just don't know a whole lot about him). I hope you'll stand by and keep me going!!!


	5. My only crime

Chapter Five: My only crime 

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Okay… so, not only am I completely indecisive, but I think I have finally (after much thought) decided on how many chapters to have. I think that I will make it to 20, after much thought and much debate over. I hope that I can make these chapters run pretty smoothly, without having a huge climax in every one. –hopes- My chapter planning was more vague than I would have liked it, so hopefully I can get something good done.

I also just watched disc 9 of the first series. Tokairin just came in (I think that's him, but I'm too lazy to check and make sure). Only saw about 5 minutes of him, but I think I might leave him out of this fanfic. Who knows; maybe some muse for him will come up later.

Also, I try to respond to all of your reviews, and if I accidentally missed someone, I am so sorry! This chapter has a little more action than normal (trying to not stray too far into a marshmallow fluffy series), so I hope I did a good enough job with it!

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Miyuki didn't like the fact that I was hiding a secret. It was a complete secret. I wasn't going to spill the beans that quickly. After all, Kenny had asked me not to, and even if he was a potential rival and I wanted to spoil a lot of his hopes and dreams, I couldn't just go behind his back like that. Oh yes; I was the keeper of a _big one_. Not the type of secret that the little kindergarteners tell, and then the whole school knows in a matter of minutes, but the kind that was so big, you just _had_ to keep it a secret. I felt lucky to be in on the information; otherwise, it would have taken me a while to figure everything out.

However, Miyuki still wasn't impressed. My sudden change in honor had really given her a surprise. She wasn't exactly ecstatic that I was keeping such a secret from her. It concerned her beloved Kenny, so of course it was something that she _wanted_ to know, even if she wouldn't come out and say it. No, the only reason I knew that she was burning to know what I wouldn't tell her was because of the fact that she had fallen hard for him, and that her eyes seemed to soften into the adorable puppy eyes just about every time I was in the room.

"Miyuki, I already told you, I am not going to tell you," I growled during one particular morning, pouring a rather large amount of cereal into a large bowl, not paying attention. Miyuki was walking behind me, giving her most adorable puppy eyes, something that I could barely _resist_ when she did. Her solid blue eyes, so watery and big, they were just so adorable that I had to keep from squealing every time I saw them.

"But Natsumi…"

"No buts!" I said, slamming down the box of cereal so hard that pieces actually flew out of it, and I started to glare at her. "You are not leaving work without me, no matter how close to the time we have to be at work! I have the keys, and we're not leaving yet!" I was very stubborn when it came to eating my Wheaties, and I made my point concrete by taking a large spoonful of cereal and milk and shoving it into my mouth, crunching loudly, as Miyuki sighed.

"I know that you need your breakfast, Natsumi, but this is ridiculous! Let's go!" she said, her eyebrows starting to furrow as I took some more bites of my cereal and shook my head. I was not leaving the house without my Wheaties. After all, it was easy enough to find where I had put the keys; they were in my back pocket, of course. But what Miyuki didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

I swallowed the bite that I had in my mouth, and gave Miyuki a curious look. "Miyuki, you worry too much. We can just take our day off, and not go to work!"

That might have been too much to push Miyuki. She looked at me, absolutely horrified, and her eyes widened. Her jaw dropped, and remained open, as I sighed, and looked at her again, and said, "Just because _you_ want to go and do a million patrols and paperwork doesn't mean that we have to do it _every day_. Let's have some fun for once!" I put down my bowl, which wasn't even half empty yet, and found that the tables had turned to the point that I was the one whining and complaining.

"Natsumi, we only have a few days off! It's not that we can just call in whenever we want! We have to request the days, remember?" she said, her mouth pulled in a thin line after she stopped, as she pointed a finger into my face. "Just because you want to slack off, doesn't mean that we _can_," she said, throwing my own logic back into my face, and I could feel a pout session coming on. I hated it when she got all serious, which was a good thing that it didn't happen very often, or I might have been very depressed.

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Turns out, though, that I was right, and Miyuki was wrong. Holiday weekend. Labor day. That meant that we had the day off, even if it was a Monday. Though it took us until we drove to the station and found the place almost deserted to find out, it was still a relief to me, as I suddenly felt the weight of a million separate paper works slide from my desk today into my desk tomorrow. "Who's good?" I asked, linking my fingers behind my head while looking at Miyuki from the passenger seat. She had a very serious look as she drove, and didn't respond for a moment. I think she was still having a few issues with the fact that not only was I somewhat gloating, but that she also didn't know what she was going to do with her day.

My smile faded from my face as I looked towards her serious expression, and then let go of my fingers. "Miyuki?" I asked, letting my hands slide from behind my head to onto my lap, and I looked towards Miyuki anxiously. She had never looked so angry, not for a long time, not since she had seen Kenny knocked over by the red mini during my first day at Bokuto. It worried me. "Hey, Miyuki…?" I said cautiously, watching her as I reached over to touch her shoulder with my hand, before she immediately slammed on the brakes.

"Agh!" I groaned, feeling the seatbelt slam into my chest and shoulder as I was moved forward by the sudden halt of the car. As I hit back into my seat with enough force to knock out a normal person, I yelled, "What the hell was that for?!" My eyes flashed open, after I had closed them out of shock of the sudden stop, and I glared at Miyuki. But, I wasn't greeted with anything, not even an apology. Miyuki was staring at the steering wheel, and her hands were gripping it tightly, as I looked around the car and noticed that we were actually back at our apartments.

"Hey Natsumi…" her voice said softly, and I looked back towards her, worry already building up. She couldn't be that depressed because we weren't at work, could she? She didn't love her job _this_ much, as far as I knew, and I lived with her. "I was wondering…" she kept trailing off, and I found my heartbeat suddenly start to get faster and more frantic, as I stared at her. I gulped, anxious, as silence came over the car, and she couldn't seem to break it.

"You wanna spend the day together?" I found myself asking before I had really thought of it, and Miyuki's eyes widened, and she looked almost shocked, and then looked up at me. I was sitting still, trying to realize what I had just done, even though it would normally be normal between friends and roommates. "Just you and me. Shopping, dinner, you name it. What'd'ya say, Miyuki?" I offered again, smiling a bit more this time, as she suddenly seemed to understand what I was talking about.

And she smiled back at me, and then started to giggle. "I was going to ask you the exact same thing!"

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As I expected, Miyuki was itching to leave, and to get some time off. I hadn't seen her so ecstatic to go into town, especially just for the shopping. Normally I was the shop-a-holic, not her. But, being as dense as I normally was, I wouldn't find out for another few hours. It wasn't that I wasn't paying attention; I just was so overwhelmed. There were so many sales, so much to by, and the fashion was just amazing. I was also trying to make sure that Miyuki was having a good time, and seeing as she was actually smiling more than she had been for the past few days, I was trying to keep her smiling.

"Hey Miyuki?" I asked, cautiously, knowing that I probably shouldn't bug her too much. She looked up from here crêpe, and smiled at me.

"Yes, Natsumi?" she asked, looking at me innocently with her beautiful blue eyes. I could fall deeply into those eyes. But I tried not to; I was on a mission. I didn't have time to be falling deeply into Miyuki's eyes. Even if my heart was pounding. Truthfully, though, I had nothing to say. I didn't really know what I wanted to say to her, and I just seemed to look at her, and she looked at me, until it was long enough, and I had to say something.

"Hand it all over!"

I was interrupted the moment I opened my mouth by a rough, harsh voice, and Miyuki and I looked over to where it was coming from at practically the same time. Here's what can happen in little over three seconds; a crêpe can drop from someone's hand and land on the floor, two mouths can drop and hang open, eyes can widen, a few people can gasp, and I could actually recognize a few things that were in process.

There was a gun, a person, and a scared clerk.

The clerk looked nervous, paler than a ghost, white and sweating, and looked completely shocked. He might have actually fainted, but somehow kept his eyes open and stood straight, with his hands up in the universal "don't-shoot-me" sign. "I _said_ hand it all over!" the man with the gun said again, this time pressing the shiny piece of metal towards the clerk getting dangerously close to him.

I looked to Miyuki, and she looked at me, and we both nodded. Even if we were off duty; this was an emergency. It figured that the large chain stores would be open on Labor Day, but we had never been there when an actual robbery was going on that we could stop. "Hey, you! Stop!" I yelled, running forward, looking unprofessional in my jeans and shirt, but I didn't care. I had my badge in my pocket, and that could be whipped out in a second; I never left the house without my badge.

He looked back towards me, just as I was going to jump him, and I was actually about to grab him before he dodged out of the way. I was shocked, and surprised, as my face started heading towards the counter, and then something came from behind and grabbed me. I was hoisted up, roughly, and put into a headlock, and then something cold and hard was pressed against my temple. "Nobody move…" his voice was thick and deadly, to the point that I knew what was going on, even if my eyes were closed.

I squinted my eyes open, and saw that the shrieking customers had quieted, and Miyuki's steps had stopped, her eyes wide, and her hand up by her mouth. _'Dammit,'_ I thought, biting my tongue, and trying to breathe while the robber had a tough grasp on my throat. _'Miyuki…'_ I whined in my head, sending the robber a glare, as he looked towards everyone in the store. He started chuckling, and I could sense the he _knew_ how much power he had because of this situation.

I took the advantage he had given me and stomped the back of my heel into his toe.

He yelped, but then I felt the gun press harder against my head, to the point that I actually tensed. "You little brat," he hissed at me, as his arm tightened around my windpipe, "You're gonna pay for that." He turned his head, and grabbed the half-filled bag that he had left on the counter for the clerk to stuff, and then turned back to the crowd. "Nobody move, or she gets it," he threatened, and I saw Miyuki's eyes flash with worry as she suddenly realized that this was not a hit-and-run situation.

He pulled on my throat, and I stepped back, feeling uncomfortable as I struggled to breathe for a moment, but that was what he wanted. We were headed towards the back of the store, near the stairway that led up to the room. This place was just crawling with opportunities for a robber, wasn't it? I continued to be forced back, as he started going retreating, and I saw Miyuki's quizzical look on her face. She was going to save me. Though the gun was pressed firmly to my temple, I knew that he wasn't going to shoot; if anyone moved, he would have more of a sense to shoot them and hurt them before they came near enough. He'd go for me after.

'_Not Miyuki…'_ I thought, worried to the point that I felt anger surge through me. He would _not_ hurt Miyuki, not for me, and not for any reason at all. I glanced down at his thin-jacketed arm, bit my tongue slightly, and then opened my mouth and bit down hard onto his muscle. It was a hard bite, and I could feel from the amount of skin that I had gotten that he was in for a hell of a bruise once I was through with him. He yowled, and at that moment, not only did Miyuki run forward, but I was able to break out of his neck hold, and smash my head into his.

I saw stars, the bright kind, the ones that swirled around your head, but it didn't matter. He was seeing them too. "You're dead meat, buster!" I snarled menacingly, and as he started to fumble backwards, I tackled him, and smashed my fist into the hand holding the gun, knocking it out so that it slid across the floor. _'Busted,'_ I thought, confidently, as I pinned down his hands to the floor, and, kneeling on one of his wrists, whipped out my badge and yelled, "You're under arrest, punk!"

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It had taken a few minutes for us to contact the back-up squad, especially because it was almost everyone's day off, but soon enough they were there. Our perpetrator was cuffed, and led away by the ever famous Detective Tokono, and Miyuki and I were left standing in the store, looking towards the back of the robber as he was walking out towards the police car. I was dead tired. My nerves were sort of shaky from that experience, but what really messed me up was that Miyuki was in that mess. I came near my partner, and looked at her back, as she was turned away from me, at a loss for words.

"Miyuki…?" I started again, cautiously, halting in my steps because I knew, somehow, that I didn't want to get any closer. She didn't answer me, and I looked down her arms, noticing they were locked tight, and that her fists were balled together tightly, and shaking. I got a little more worried then. "Hey, Miyuki?" I said, a little louder, a little more courageous, and took one step forward.

She turned towards me, tears streaming down her face, her blue eyes dark with emotion, and she rushed towards me. I was taken aback, and she collapsed into me, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me tight, her head buried in my collarbone. "Don't be so stupid!" she yelled at me, anger and sadness clear in her voice, and I could only look at her in wonder. I didn't know what to say, or what to do, as she rubbed her face slightly on my shirt, and clutched at the back of my shirt.

"Miyuki…" I said lightly, standing there as still as a statue, while she kept squeezing tighter and tighter.

"Stop acting like the hero all the time, Natsumi! I was so scared!" she yelled at me again, and I flinched. She was worried. I was being the hero. And she was scared. She was scared for me. "For once, don't run into a situation without thinking over something more than taking down the guy in one blow! What would have happened if he had really meant what he said?!" she continued to yell at me, and my facial expression dropped slightly. I hadn't thought about it that much, if he had actually been serious or not; frankly, it didn't really occur to me that I would ever get sidestepped, or swept into a situation like that, and my mind had just panicked.

"I…" I started to say, and lifted my arms up slightly, hugging her lightly, "I'm sorry…" It hurt to know that she was this scared, as she shook and cried against me, and I was sorry for it. "I'm sorry, Miyuki."

She buried her face in my shoulder, still sniffling, and said, "Don't try to relive the sky tower incident… okay?" Her tone was so quiet, I almost didn't catch what she had said, and I looked towards her with sympathy in my eyes. I pulled my arms fully around her, hugging her tighter, and took a deep breath.

"Okay."

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Note: Sky tower incident? Yeah, see disc 9 of season 1, episode 34-35. I would have thrown some serious popcorn during that episode, if I had any. I almost died when Natsumi was gonna fly off… That was really scary.

**Review Replies:**

**Ominae:** Thanks! I can't wait for it either (Thanks to Syaoran for telling me) and I hope it's a little better than I hope for!

**Kimmy:** O There is no getting secret info from me, even if you are like, my super awesomest friend. As long as you're there, I'll be your inspiration. ) I hope you liked this chapter.

**Syaoran Li Clow**: I'm glad that I can brighten your day! I try hard to write so that fans will enjoy, and I hope that your following week was better. I'm trying to finish season one, and hopefully get to season two, before season three comes out. However, Negima is also calling my name. . I am very determined to finish season one for this fic though. Natsumi and Miyuki do change a lot from the first disc, ne? And I will be trying to post one chapter a week now!

**Hunter49a:** Ohhhh. Okay! I know there's not enough; people need to write more often! I think there just needs to be more YUA and NatsumixMiyuki fics in the world…–tackles the dustbunny-

**RanKuro:** You missed my comment in an earlier chapter. (Or did I edit it out?) There will be TONS of cliffhangers, especially as we get towards the end. I'm glad that you checked out my story, and will continue watching for new chapters!


	6. One Stupid Mistake

Chapter Six: One Stupid Mistake 

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Well… Judging by how horrible I thought the last chapter was, you all seemed to like it! Makes me happy! I just finished the 12th disc, and typed while watching it. (Netflix is very slow…) -grumbles about Natsumi and Tokairin- -throws Tokairin somewhere in the fic just to shatter him completely- Yes. I am evil. He ruined my Natsumi-Miyuki muse.

Been doing a lot lately. I am a big part in a Shakespearian play now, and it's driving me nuts. I have to memorize everything before the ninth of October, so a lot of my time will be spent on that. I'm gonna be pretty busy, but I'm still trying to write a lot of fic.

I hope that you guys aren't going to kill me because I haven't updated a chapter in like… forever. And please don't kill me over the fact that this chapter is HORRIBLE when it comes to length. I have no muse at ALL.

Oh, also, language in here. Just FYI.

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. I woke up early that morning. I was completely worn out; my body ached all over, and I was sure that my eyes were still red and puffy from all of the crying that I did yesterday. I had never cried so hard in my entire life; I didn't know what came over me. Natsumi knew what she was doing; she had gone into dangerous situations tons of times and I had never cried as much as I had last night. All that was new in the situation was that Natsumi actually had a gun up to her head. The sudden realization was something I had never truly experienced before. I thought that Natsumi was going to be shot, right in front of me.

It was still dark; Tokyo was lit up because of all the city lights, and I could see some people getting ready for their day. People by their cars, trying to get them to warm up, and I placed my hand against the glass of my window. As I thought, it was freezing, which made me pull it back again. _'It's almost winter…'_ I recognized vaguely, though we weren't going to see snow for… oh, a good three or four months at least. I blinked my tired eyes, and looked toward my bedroom door, cracked open about an inch, and stared at the wooden surface.

It seemed like forever before I shuffled off of my bed, and stepped onto the carpeted floor, feeling the cold fibers between my toes. I tiptoed quietly to the door, and opened it enough so that I could walk out, and headed down the hallway. I didn't know why I had to do this, stumbling around so early in the morning, when the lights were just starting to give the inside of our apartment a blue hue. I just had to. And before I knew it, I was standing in Natsumi's doorway, looking at the brunette, fast asleep and tangled in her covers.

I leaned against the doorframe, and crossed my arms, my head resting against the wall. I felt strange, in a way, waking up early just so that I could see Natsumi, and then standing in her doorway like some sort of stalker. I just watched as if I was looking over her, like a mother would her child, and I still didn't understand what was going on. All I knew was that, as I looked on at her infrequent tossing and turning, I could feel a sense of peace overcome me, like I knew, with physical evidence, that the recurring nightmares I had been having all night were fake, and Natsumi was still there.

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"Stop it, Miyuki! You're giving me the heebie-jeebies!"

I rolled my eyes for what must have been at least the fifth time since Natsumi had woken up this morning, and tightened my grip on the steering wheel. "It's not _my_ fault that you leave your dumb-bells hanging around all over your room. You should pick them up so I won't trip over them!"

"Maybe you shouldn't be staring at me while I'm asleep so early in the morning!" she retorted, and I felt my gaze suddenly turn into a piercing glare. Sometimes she could be so _annoying_ at just the right moments. I saw out of the corner of my eye that she was looking at me defiantly, as if she wanted to say more, but was lacking any reply from me to go with. She flopped back dramatically into her seat, sighing, and returned her hand up to the handle above the door. "What were you doing up so early in the morning anyway?"

'_Making sure you were okay._' "I don't know," I said decisively, "I just woke up, and…" I trailed off, seeing as I didn't want to start Natsumi off again with the whole "you were stalking me" dilemma for the sixth time this morning. I couldn't handle that, even if I wasn't driving. "Hey Natsumi… are you sure you want to go into work today?" I was still a little hesitant to go back into work; if we had another incident like yesterday, I didn't think I would be able to take it.

"Oh, thinking about taking another vacation?" I could hear the snide edge in her reply, and I shot her a dirty look. Natsumi smiled at me, which I faintly caught through another glance at her, and she shook her head. "Miyuki, you need to stop worrying, all right? I'm fine. Sure, he was scary at first, but he's behind bars now," she said confidently, and I could picture her, staring out the windshield, as if she didn't have a care in the world.

'_Losing your life was only scary at first, huh…?'_ I stayed silent, not wanting to answer her comment, even though she knew, in the few ways that Natsumi mysteriously knew, that she hit me hard. Instead, I focused on driving, and on getting to the station. Like always, we were running a little behind schedule because of all the antics we had this morning, and because of Natsumi's persistence to have her bowl of wheaties.

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"Tsujimoto! Kobayakawa!"

The chief's voice rang the moment that we walked into the room, fully in uniform, and Natsumi and I both jumped. The whole office looked at us, and we could see everyone's eyes looking from us, then to the chief, and we followed suit. We paused briefly at the door, and Natsumi and I made eye contact, sharing our confusion, and closed the door behind us as we started the long walk through the office to the front of the room, where the chief's desk stood.

"What's the problem, Chief?" Natsumi said casually, as I came to a stop next to her. The chief looked unusually grim, with his fingers linked tightly in front of his mouth, and his eyes were closed. His shoulders were very stiff, even as he was leaning forward on his elbows. For a few moments, we were standing there motionless, tension in the room increasing as the audience was waiting patiently for the newest addition to "The things that Tsujimoto and Kobayakawa did wrong, and the chief got in trouble for it". But nothing happened. Instead, he breathed heavily into his hands, and opened his serious eyes to look first at me, and lastly at Natsumi.

"We have another officer coming in today. I want you two to make sure that he is greeted warmly and welcomed to Bokuto," he said, tough and tart, just like always. There was little warmth in his tone, and his gaze was set firmly on Natsumi. I looked at her, and saw that she was looking back at him, and she shared the same confused look as I did. "He will be arriving here very shortly," the chief demanded our attention again, "It is extremely important that you two find him and greet him immediately. Understood?"

"Y-Yes sir…" I answered, almost unsure, and looked to Natsumi. We both raised our hands to our foreheads, though Natsumi said nothing, and merely kept looking at the chief. As she lowered her arm, I kept mine up for a few more seconds, and then slowly let it down, still watching my partner, with her fixed gaze with the chief. She was concerned about something, and the chief's tone had probably set off some sort of alarm that Natsumi had.

"Let's go, Miyuki."

Her answer was quick before she turned on her heel and started walking towards the door. I almost had no time to respond, and was quickly caught off guard as I turned and watched as she walked slowly, but not casually, towards the door. She was stiff armed, and I could tell that she was tense, as could the rest of the room. I looked to Aoi and Yoriko, standing together as usual, and they only shook their heads at me, and I looked back towards Natsumi, now reaching for the door handle. "Wait up, Natsumi!" I called, jogging quickly to her, and reaching the door handle before the door shut behind her.

"Natsumi!" I called again, letting the door shut behind me, as she stopped in response to my voice. I jogged to her again, and looked at her with confusion. "What's going on?" I asked, standing in front of her, while her gaze was fixed firmly on the floor. The happy and confident grin was now effaced from her features, and was replaced with something more somber and serious than she normally wore.

"He didn't say new officer," she said tersely, and I looked at her hard again, still confused, as if she was speaking in a completely different language. "The chief didn't say new officer. We know whoever it is that's coming." For once, I could see where her logic was suddenly coming from, (because we all know that Natsumi and logic do _not_ mix). _'An officer that we already know…? But… the only ones we've met have been here all along…'_ I thought, deep in confusion, and when I came back to reality, Natsumi was already starting to walk down the hall, and go down the stairs.

I struggled to keep up with her fast pace, and she didn't wait for me; she was clearly too side tracked even to take it slow so that her partner could keep up. And before I knew it, we were both outside, in the sun and the cool air. I suddenly felt how chilly it had become because of the fall weather, and said, "Natsumi, we should grab our jackets so we can wa—" but I cut myself off.

We didn't have to wait. Because there was Shoji Tokairin, standing at the entrance of Bokuto station, looking straight into Natsumi's eyes. Natsumi was straight as a board, fists clenched at her sides. _'Tokairin?'_ I thought, my hand coming up to my mouth as I took a quick gasp of cold air, and stared at Natsumi. Tokairin was supposed to be gone, for months, training on Mount Lhara. He had left only a little while ago, and now he was suddenly back?

Natsumi's hands unclenched, and I could see the hard imprints of her muscled shoulder blades against her top soften. "So you're back," she said, and Tokairin smiled at her. And with that smile, my heart began to drop.

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"GOD DAMMIT!" she screamed, slamming her fist and the glass down on the polished wood table. She was making such a racket, the brunette, who sat across from me. Her face was red from either anger or the impressive amount of alcohol that she was consuming. I grabbed the other glasses on the table, determined not to let another one break because of Natsumi's anger problems.

"Natsumi, you have to calm down! You almost broke some more glasses!" I scolded her, though I knew that she would forget it in a matter of seconds. In response, she glared at me, lifted her glass, and chugged down the last half of another large beer. _'She's lost it…'_ I thought, realizing now that I would have to take her home, and that it was a good thing I had the keys in my pocket. She was completely wasted; that, and she would probably be sick either on the way home or as soon as we got into the parking lot of our apartment complex.

"Miyuki, you dun undastand…" she said with a slur, an angry yet content smile forming on her face, "Hezza bastard… Hezza should stayed in Lhera…" At least she was being quiet now, as she explained all of this to me for the fifth or sixth time in the past ten minutes. She squinted her eyes at me, rotating her finger around the rim of the glass, and trying to focus on my face as her head started tilting every which way.

"Natsumi, I think we need to go home. You've had way too much to drink," I said warningly, looking at a passing waiter and catching his eye. He immediately came over and grabbed the many glasses I had saved from breaking, and even reached for the one in front of Natsumi, though she quickly shook him off, and snapped her fingers at him, as a warning. _'Yup, she's completely wasted…'_ this only confirmed my thoughts, and I looked at her with a very worried face, pleading that she still had enough common sense to understand that I wanted to leave.

"Hey, Meeyuki?"

"Yeah?" I replied, looking at her, as her gaze went down from my eyes to the rim of her glass. She was still running her finger around it, in a very slow circle, watching it as if she was entranced. She hiccupped once, then again, but still didn't say anything more, though she looked as if she was very deep in thought. "Natsumi?" I asked, trying to get her to speak her thoughts, but she only looked up at me for a second, before glancing back down.

"Ya knew…" she said, still slurring because of the lack of control after so much alcohol, "I needda tell you sumthin…" This was going slower than I thought. She glanced up at me again, with her swirling brown eyes, and then smiled.

"What is it, Natsumi?"

She looked down at her glass again, the smile leaving her face for another minute, and then she said, "I love yew, Miyuki…" She looked up at me, as my eyes widened, and she grinned, and continued, "I love you a lot…"

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DUN DUN DUN. SO MUCH DRAMA. O LOVE IT!!!

**Review Replies:**

**Kimmy:** Ah, the secret. Everyone loves it. We'll figure that out… in… like three more chapters. I hope that you liked this though; I was thinking of how much you would laugh because of this ending. )

**Syaoran Li Clow**: Yes, emotional. I did want to add in some potential danger. You know, make it more like the anime series. Plus, as I started to write that chapter, I lacked muse, and I needed something. P

**Hunter49a:** I'm hoping that someone comes up with one after reading my story. I would really love that; if I inspired more N/M stories. Any more dust bunnies? 3

**Ominae: **Temporary or permanent, it doesn't matter to me! I'd love to read some more!

**Shini-chii**Yay! Another fan! This series is one that I am ENTIRELY enveloped in. I know that the cliffies are evil; I'm trying to keep them to a minimum, but they end a chapter so well! And you're right; they make you stay on your toes for the next chapter.


	7. Lost in my Memories

Chapter Seven: Lost in my Memories 

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Wow… I knew that chapter stunk after all. I'm sorry guys. I know that everything was fast and all, but I seriously needed some typing action. I needed to work on this fic as much as I possibly could; I owe it to you guys, but I also owe you guys GOOD chapters, not sucky ones.

I have now received 9 hours of sleep (which is great; when I wrote the chapter last night I was running on only four) and I'm ready to go. I want to thank **Shini-chii **in particular for the WONDERFUL suggestion. People, go on Youtube, and in the search engine, type in "You're Under Arrest Full Throttle" and find the ending. Shini-chii, you have given me muse, and the link to the CUTEST yuri scene EVERRRRR. (Even if they messed up their eye color…)

And Hunter49a, you guessed my idea. P

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The world was like an exploding time bomb when I woke up the next morning. The light was too strong, and it hurt, even to turn my head towards it when my eyes were closed. I was cold and hot at the same time, and I could feel the throbbing ache in the deep parts of my skull that seemed to rock my brain every time I was still or when I moved. It was the most uncomfortable feeling, and I could feel every part of my body absolutely dreading the fact that I had drank so much last night. But that was all that I could remember; the beer. Everything that I had said, done, was gone.

I sat in my little world, trying not to move and trying to dull the sharp pains in my head. It hurt like a thousand knives trying to skewer my brain, which was worse than my typical hangover. _'How much did Miyuki let me drink last night…?'_ I asked with a slow recognition, and then I opened my eyes. Miyuki. Where was she? Did she take me home last night? I couldn't remember anything that had happened, and suddenly I was up from my bed and threw the covers aside, besides the fact that I couldn't walk a straight line, let alone do it while I was hung-over and dizzy from my sudden movement.

"Miyuki?" I asked, my hand pressed up firmly against my forehead, as I walked into the blinding light of the kitchen. "Damn windows…" I growled, moving my hand from my forehead to my eyes, to shield them from the light, and still had to squint to see Miyuki standing by the counters. She held up a kitchen knife in mid-cut, oddly, like she had just frozen at my voice.

"Yes, Natsumi?" She put down the knife and turned around, looking at me curiously with those vibrant blue eyes. I stared at her for a few moments, not breaking the silence in the room, and started to put down my hand, my gaze softening. Why did I need to talk to her again?

"Um…" I said, completely at a loss for what I had needed to talk to her about, and tried to pull something out of thin air. "I... um… Good morning?" I said, unsurely, and it was a definite cover up. She looked surprised, then smiled slightly, and turned around to continue with her chopping. I watched her back, seeing the muscles of her shoulders move against the fabric of her shirt and apron, and then looked away. This was _precisely_ the reason that I was so upset yesterday. _'Yesterday…'_ I suddenly remembered, and the word popped at me before I even knew I thought it. Tokairin. "Miyuki…" I said, walking over to her and leaning on one elbow against the counter-top, as she continued to chop a large mix of vegetables, but she glanced at me to let me know I had her attention. "About yesterday…" I said, dragging on the end of the word yesterday, trying to think of what I wanted to say, "Or… last night, really…" I looked at her, and she put down the knife for a second, hand still on the handle, and looked back at me, "Did anything… happen?"

She blinked once or twice, quickly, and then bit her bottom lip lightly. She let go of the knife, wiped her hands on her apron, and then walked over to the other side of the kitchen, and started to wash her hands in the sink. "Natsumi…" she answered, though she was still looking the other way, and I was still frozen against the counter, "Do you even remember what happened last night?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, and said roughly, "I was drinking, duh. The hangover doesn't really lie to me…" I saw her flinch at the coarse texture of my voice, and flinched myself. "I… don't remember…" I added quickly, almost as if it could replace what I had just said. But because I had remembered yesterday so suddenly just a few moments ago, it was sort of like I had just lied to Miyuki. I didn't remember what had happened last night, but I did remember yesterday…

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"_So you're back." I said, as if it was no big deal, with Tokairin standing right in front of me. His brown, rough-and-tumble style hair was longer than it had been when he had left a few months ago. But his face was the same, with a smooth shave and the steel blue eyes that I had looked into with such longing when he left. He was the same Tokairin I had kissed in the airport, the same one I had hugged with more emotion than I had ever hugged a boy before, and the same one I told that I loved him. He was the same Shoji Tokairin that I had thought about every time I traced his name on the back of the postcard he sent me only a week after he had left._

"_I am back," he said confidently, smiling at me, as if nothing was wrong with the world. I couldn't smile back at him though, not yet; this was still too much of a shock. This was the worst thing that could have possibly happened right now. He had to come back now, without telling anyone but the Chief, and Yoriko didn't even know. He had made a very sneaky entrance, which made me feel uncomfortable. "How are you, Natsumi? Miyuki?" he asked politely, and then I turned sideways, facing Miyuki, and remembered that she was following me before I had stopped._

_Miyuki smiled at him, and said, "I'm very well, Tokairin. I'm glad to see that you made it back." She didn't look at me as she said this, and her hands moved together to link fingers, and I could see, faintly, they were shaking. I tried looking into her eyes, but she was staring right past me, smiling at Tokairin like nothing was wrong. I followed her stare, and looked back at Tokairin, who was still looking expectantly at me. _

"… _Miyuki?" I asked, turning back to her, and she looked at me again, finally. "Can… um…" I didn't know how to continue; it seemed so rude to ask her to leave. But I couldn't stand both of them being on either side of me, it was too much for me to handle. But I didn't have to finish; Miyuki looked at me, with an understanding look, and nodded. _

"_I'm going to help the Chief, and work on some paperwork. I'll see you in a little while. It was nice seeing you again, Tokairin," she said, bowing, and then left us. It was such a terse leave that I was tempted to call her back, and to strike a casual conversation. But the part of me that knew that it was a bad idea for that was more dominant than the part that I had to comfort Miyuki was. I stared after her, and then looked back at Tokairin, who looked at me, expectantly._

"_Can I talk to you, Natsumi?"_

_It was uncomfortable, as he asked what I dreaded he would, and I nodded. I had to get through this; and I needed to get over it. I was having such a good time without him now; I didn't feel as strongly as I did the day at the airport. He was… here, again. I was lost in my thoughts as he turned and started walking out of the precinct, and I followed him, eager to talk though dreading every word that we had to speak. _

_As we walked down the busy sidewalks, watching cars pass us by, I tried to keep my eyes off of him so that I didn't have to watch him look ahead of me, as if we were just perfect strangers. "Were you surprised?" he asked, calmly, as if it was just a normal question to ask someone. I looked at him sharply, and then focused on the ground in front of our feet. Surprised? That was one word for it. But everything was just so messed up right now, and I felt like I couldn't focus. Maybe the correct phrase was that I was absolutely in a hole that I dug for myself. _

_I nodded, and he saw it, even though I never met his eyes. He pursed his lips, and then asked, "Are you happy to see me?"_

"_Yes." Even if I was completely horrified by the fact that he had just popped up out of the blue and come back into my life, I was still happy to see him. I was glad he didn't die up on the mountains, when he had no partner to hold his ropes or anything. But at the same point in time, I wished that he had taken a longer vacation. I wish that he hadn't come back so soon, not right now at least, when I would need full concentration on the plan that Kenny and I had formulated. Not when I needed to find out what I was thinking whenever I needed to protect Miyuki. Him being here would only complicate things; it was like solving an equation with three variables instead of just two._

_He nodded again, and we walked in silence for a few more minutes. The chief would understand when I got back that he had asked me to walk with him; it wasn't my fault. I was supposed to greet him and welcome him; it wasn't my fault that he wanted to walk around Tokyo first. "Natsumi, do you remember that day at the airport?" he asked, and I cringed, but nodded. "Do you remember what you said?" Again, I nodded. Now he stopped, and he looked at me. He grabbed my hands in his, which were almost large enough to completely envelope mine, and he looked seriously into my eyes. "Do you still feel that way? About me? About us?" he burned the question into me, with only the serious touch of his eyes, and I could feel the color drain from my face._

"_T-Tokairin…"_

"_Call me Shoji, Natsumi…" he almost seemed to beg, and then, slowly, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. It was as soft and as sudden as it had been in the airport, three months ago, yet it didn't have the same feeling. I felt uncomfortable; a sudden realization that I didn't want this, and my arms had a spasm for a second, which he noticed. He slowly retreated, looked at me, and asked, "Is something wrong?" _

_My eyes were shut, tight, but I could still feel his lips on mine, and his eyes burning to look at mine. It was a hot kiss, something that he had wanted, and I didn't. I couldn't return that sort of passion. All that I felt in my heart now was disgust, and pain, like someone had reached in, grabbed my heart, and was twisting it like a wet rag, drying to get every drop of meaning out. "I… I can't do this, Tokairin," I said, keeping my eyes closed as I finished, and then opened them a few seconds later, to see a change in his face. He was shocked; he wasn't expecting this. "I'm sorry… I just… can't" I finished, but he still didn't seem to understand._

_Slowly, he let go of my hands, and let them drop to my sides, and looked at the ground at his feet. I only looked at the top of his head, and I could feel pain flooding through my whole body. This was the man I had learned to love so quickly, and the man I had sworn that I had loved. But now all that I could think about was Miyuki, and how she looked so strange when she noticed the warmth with which Tokairin smiled at me with. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that, three months ago, all I wanted was to hold Tokairin in my arms. I was only thinking of her._

"_I understand," he said, after what seemed like a very long period of silence, and he looked up at me. We met eyes, and at that moment it was the relief that I felt three months ago that flooded me. It wasn't love; it couldn't have been love. That was just what I thought. Because, right now, this was all I needed; to know that I could be free to choose what I wanted._

_I smiled, and said, "Thank you." And then we turned and started walking back to the precinct together, every step quicker than it had been on our way out._

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"Natsumi! Natsumi! Come quick!"

Yoriko's squeaky voice, consistently like a boy who had just entered puberty, woke me from my daydreaming, as I tried to recall what had happened last night. Nothing was coming to me, so I turned my head, which was resting on the heel of my hand, and looked at the gossip-hound as she pushed her finger into my face. "You have a lot of nerve, Natsumi! I mean really, that takes so much guts!" she said, her eyes sparkling with the anticipation that she finally had a new story to go on, and I looked at her curiously.

"What did I do?" I asked, confused, and she almost did a double take, trying to figure out if I was joking or not.

"Are you kidding me?! Natsumi, do you even remember what you told Miyuki last night?!" Yoriko seemed to be completely shocked, and caught the attention of Kenny and Aoi, who were nearby. I looked at her, still shocked and wondering, and shook my head. Her eyes widened, and she smacked her forehead dramatically. "Natsumi!" she whined at me, as if I had done something wrong, "You don't remember that you told Miyuki you loved her?!"

"WH-AAAA-TTTT?!" Kenny stood up dramatically, staggering five feet backwards, and then tripped over a chair at a desk and fell. Aoi put her hands to her mouth, and looked shocked, and I had no clue what sort of expression I was wearing. Probably my eyes were ready to pop out of my head, and I looked completely shocked. Yoriko looked completely pleased, and then shook her head, smiling confidently.

"You really didn't know, huh Natsumi? Are you hung-over again?" she asked, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.

I grinned sheepishly, glanced towards the chief, who wasn't paying attention, and said, "A little."

Yoriko laughed, and then pointed her finger back in my face. "You said you loved Miyuki last night, Natsumi." And if it hadn't been for the serious expression on Yoriko's face, like she always got when she had solid information, I wouldn't have believed her. My mouth drooped open, and I stared at her in wonder, suddenly realizing Miyuki's questions this morning weren't for Tokairin.

"I need to go," I said, checking my watch, finding out it was past time for me to go home, and grabbed my blazer and ran out of the office.

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In the car, after I found Miyuki and we had changed, we were dead silent. Today had been a rather quiet day on both of our patrols, and now that we were alone together, it was very uncomfortable. I was holding onto the handle above the door, like usual, and looking at Miyuki while she was driving. I wanted to say so much to her, but I didn't know _how _to begin, seeing as I didn't even know what I did in the first place. I didn't know what I said, except that I had said I loved Miyuki. '_Is that the truth? Did I really say I love Miyuki? And is that what I meant?' _I thought, still desperately confused. I said that I loved Tokairin only a little while ago, and now that my feelings had changed, it was so hard to pinpoint exactly what love _was_.

"So, Yoriko told you, huh?"

Her sudden speech made me jump for a second, and I looked towards her as she kept staring out the windshield, concentrating on the road. "Yeah," I said, softly, watching her as she started to signal and merge into the left turning lane, and wait for a break in the traffic, so that we would be home. "She told me… but… I wasn't sure if it was true…" I paused at the end, waiting for her to comment, but she merely turned into the driveway of the apartment, parked, and shut off the car.

"It is true…" after a few moments of silence, she confirmed my thoughts, and looked at me. She wasn't on the verge of crying, but she was looking to me like I had something to say. She must have been more confused than I was, but at the same time, I didn't know what to say. She bit her bottom lip, and then said, "You were drunk, though… So… I didn't really take it seriously--"

"Miyuki…" I said, interrupting her, looking seriously at her, and saw her eyes widen as she looked into mine. I smiled seductively; about to pull the biggest stunt I had done all day, I said, "I love you."

Her expression was more wild and surprised than I had expected it to be. And I couldn't hold my serious expression, and started laughing. I closed my eyes, hearing her stuttering to try to say something in response, and I whined through laughter, "Y-you're face… oh god, you shoulda seen your face!" I couldn't stop, it was too funny, and in a few more seconds, Miyuki was laughing too.

"T-That wasn't f-funny!" she tried to say, though her giggling and laughing was too much for her to get it out in one try. Instead, I just shook my head, and continued laughing, and once she finally realized that what I had said was a joke, she started laughing too.

If I hadn't been so naïve that day, I wouldn't have said that I saved my butt with that joke.

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**Review Replies:**

**Hunter49a:** Thank you for your ideas. I really didn't want to touch on Tokairin much in this chapter (since most of that chemistry is between him and Natsumi, and Miyuki's just an observer). And I also wanted his entrance to be like "BANG", so that Natsumi didn't know about it. (I also didn't want an Aoi entrance, though it would have been cool if Yoriko said something). All in all, there should only be maybe one more sucky chapter…

**Shini-chii**I need to find some way to thank you for giving me that link. Wow, that was just the most AMAZING thing ever.

**ShoujoGirl (): **I'm always happy to hear that! I just started watching You're Under Arrest this year, after owning the first episode since I was born practically, and I'm almost done with season one. I hope you'll continue to read this fic, and hurray for getting back to the good ol' animes!


	8. The want to please you

Chapter Eight: The want to please you 

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Okay. I am not dead. Nor was I even close to dead; I just had a LOT of things going on all at once and it was CRAZY. I just finished my play, and three out of the four shows were standing ovations! SO happy! The one show that didn't give us an s.o. was full of old people, and it was really quite sad (I had WICKED funny lines, but basically nobody laughed). If any of you were curious, (yeah right), I played Bottom in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Anyways, I'll stop ranting. Yes, my schedule has been hectic, but I have not forgotten about you guys!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! This chapter is shorter than the rest (forgive me, my chapter plans are weak and need serious revising that I do not have PATIENCE for), but I hope you still like it anyways. And if you don't… then just tell me in a review and I'll revise it.

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All in all, after Natsumi and I "made up", it was like nothing had happened. Or, at least, I made it seem that way. True, her joke was very funny and although it relieved a pit in my stomach, I still couldn't get over what she had said the previous night. For some reason, it had been stuck in my head, and I relived the moment over and over, both when I was asleep and awake. She was drunk, and I wasn't sure why I kept retelling the story over and over, when it didn't seem to mean much to me, but as the time went on, it started to make me worry.

I had never really thought about Natsumi in that sort of way. Even if we were partners, and there was no doubt that she was the closest friend I had, there was no way I could ever consider her as my… lover. That was the thing; the context in which she confessed, albeit it was a fake confession, could have gone either way. We never said we loved each other, since we deeply appreciated each other, and never told each other how much the other meant to us. Love… it's such a complicated word, and even now I'm unsure of how I feel about using the word in a day-to-day language. However… the way that Natsumi said it… I just got the feeling that it was something _deeper_ than trust and appreciation.

I felt silly, saying that. So I didn't.

However, as I woke up in the early hours of the next morning, I realized that my feelings still hadn't been eased, and that I was worried about something. I laid in my bed, the glowing hands of the clock on my bedside table reading somewhere near two thirty. I was never plagued with insomnia, but tonight I figured that I wasn't going to get any sleep. This was the fourth time I had woken up since I first tried falling asleep; every hour on the hour I had woken up since then. And for some reason I didn't know why, I felt that I couldn't get over what Natsumi and I had laughed about just a few short hours ago. _'This is silly,'_ I thought, disgruntled as I sat up in bed and pushed back the covers.

I pulled my knees up to my chin, and rested my head upon them, staring out at the wall in front of me. I was tired; I could feel fatigue pulling at me to return my head to the soft surface of my pillow, but a part of me wouldn't budge. I think I had finally reached the point where I was too tired to even move towards my bed to lay down. _'Why would Natsumi say that, or mean it like that? She has Tokairin, doesn't she?' _I thought nervously, not really reassuring myself with that statement. Tokairin, he was like a waving breeze for Natsumi; one moment they were in love, and in another they were fighting, and he was gone. Who knew what was going on with Natsumi during the time when he was away. Natsumi never talked about him, and whenever I had seen Natsumi looking at the postcard he had sent her, it was only for a few brief seconds.

"Come to think of it…" I realized slowly, as I looked out of the window besides my bedroom, staring at the lights of Tokyo and the stars, "I never did find out what happened between them today…" My curiosity was immense; I felt the utmost need to go and ask Natsumi what had happened immediately. I had been so wrapped up in what she had said to me the previous night that I didn't even _consider_ what was going on with those two. It gave me a sort of sick feeling to my stomach, which I was trying to repel, but I couldn't. _'I wonder… Natsumi didn't mention anything… I wonder if something bad happened?'_ I thought, and then tried to realistically think of the possibilities. It was a trait of Tokairin to just come in, make a fuss, and then leave. Was that what this visit, so sudden and fast, was about?

I slowly released my legs, and laid back down on the soft surface of my bed, and pulled up the covers to my chin. I could always ask Natsumi what happened in a few hours; as soon as she was up. It wasn't as if she wasn't going to be there or anything, so there was really no rush. And those were my last thoughts before I finally drifted off into a sleep that remained until my alarm chimed a good morning at me a few hours later.

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Natsumi and I had a quiet morning, eating our breakfast as usual together, and then getting into the car and heading to work. It was our usual routine, however, it was quieter this morning than normal. Normally, Natsumi and I would battle over how late she was getting up (because _I_ had to wake her up normally _every_ morning), and then we would bicker about it until we got into the car and I had something to distract myself with. But nothing happened like that this morning; Natsumi was up earlier than I was, taking a shower. Odd, yes, but I wasn't about to question the ways of Natsumi; she was always able to surprise me in these little ways.

We were quiet in the car, and whenever I looked over at her, she seemed to be smiling, yet deep in thought. It was like she was smiling just to give me the impression that nothing was wrong, and although I didn't want to admit it, she was doing a very good job. As far as I could notice, nothing was wrong. However, there was a part of me, deep inside, that knew something had happened with Tokairin yesterday, and I wasn't about to let it go without a fight. Nothing was going to upset Natsumi without giving me a chance to fix it.

"Hey partner," I said, keeping my eyes on the road, but I could see that her head looked up slightly, "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah. I'm a little tired, but I'm all right. Why?"

I shrugged my shoulders, and then replied, "No reason. You just looked a little preoccupied this morning. I didn't have to wake you up, or make you breakfast, or fight for the keys or anything." With every example I listed, she flinched, from what I could see from the corner of my eye. "Is anything wrong?" I asked, earnestly, not really wanting to mention Tokairin's name unless I really had to.

She looked torn for a moment, as she looked at me, like she was trying to decide how best to answer the question. She bit her lip, continued looking at me, and when we reached a traffic light, I stopped the car and looked at her. We stared for a moment, in silence, at each other, not sure of what to say or what to do. I was waiting for her; I wanted her to make a move, not me, because I didn't want her to talk about Tokairin if nothing really happened.

"Tokairin left," she said, facing front wards, and placing her hands in her lap. Her eyes followed where her hands were, and I looked at her, for a moment, in pity. She seemed so hurt, so frustrated, so split, that I didn't know what to do. I turned my eyes back to the road, and started to drive once the light was green, still trying to think of the best course of action for this sticky situation.

"I see…" I started. It was a common starting point, a cliché for those people who didn't know what to say when it came to awkward situations like this. "Are you…" I paused, wondering, maybe, if this was the best thing to ask her right now, when the answer seemed to obvious, "Are you sad? Do you wish he hadn't left?" I wanted to ask so much more, like, "why did he leave?", and "what happened yesterday?", but I couldn't. I didn't want to push her past her limits, which I rarely did anyways, but once Natsumi got into one of her moods, it was nearly impossible to bring her out of it.

"No, I'm not."

Her answer surprised me, and I opened my mouth to ask what else was wrong, when she interrupted me saying, "Because I have someone very important here." I looked towards her, raising an eyebrow curiously, as she smiled flirtatiously and cooed, "I have my lover, Miss Miyuki Kobayakawa here. Remember?" She winked at me, and I turned back to the road, a little frustrated and flustered, but smiling all the same. So that was the way she was going to play the game, was it?

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"Tsujimoto and Kobayakawa, are your snow tires installed onto your patrol vehicle yet?" The chief's voice rained down on us from behind our chairs, and startled me. I looked over my shoulder, almost mirror-imaging Natsumi, and we both looked up at him. He was holding a clipboard and a pen, reading something on it, though he was clearly waiting for an answer to his question.

"Yes, Captain, but why do you ask?" I answered, knowing that Natsumi wouldn't have a clue if there were snow tires on her moto-compo and our patrol car yet. I took care of all the mechanics; she was just there for the ride.

"You haven't heard, Miyuki?!" The ever prominent and squeaky voice of Yoriko popped up from her desk, a row behind us, and I leaned backwards in my chair to look at her. The glasses she wore were starting to slide down the bridge of her nose, and she looked at me with awe, as if I had said something completely unbelievable. "There's going to be snow! A _huge_ snowstorm in Tokyo, this week! It's going to cover us completely in snow, starting probably tomorrow or the next day! It's been all over the news for a few days now!"

"Why watch the news when we can get our own little weather report right here?" Natsumi's sarcasm rang deep, and I had to use all of my power to stop a crude smile from forming on my face. Yoriko held her breath for a minute, puffing out her cheeks to look stubborn and childish, like a child ready to throw a fit, and then turned her head away from Natsumi.

"Just because _I_ know what's going on doesn't mean that _you _have to rely upon me for all your information," she said, matter-of-factly, and sat back down to work at her desk again.

The chief had since moved on to the other sets of patrollers, and left Natsumi and I to our own devices. I looked at her, saw that she was looking at me, and I smiled. "It is almost Christmas time, isn't it?" I asked her, knowing that she probably would say yes just because I mentioned it. She nodded, smiling as if she knew all along what day it was, and how soon Christmas was coming up. Knowing her, however, she could have known; Christmas was the time of the annual Police Christmas Party, which meant that she could party and drink all she liked.

I leaned across my desk, knitting my fingers together, and rested my chin upon the backs of them. "So… partner," I said, looking at her curiously, and added a little flourish upon the word "partner", just to inspire a smile upon her face, "you know Christmas is coming up soon…" She nodded, still looking at me expectantly, as if I was going to come up with something funny to say in front of everyone. "What do you want for Christmas?"

She looked at me with a mild curiosity, and then looked over the desk, at Kenny, and then back at me. I could tell, just from her expression, that something was going on. She bit her bottom lip again, seeming like she was at a loss for what to say to answer my simple question, and then gulped. "I…" she started, putting a hand on the desk and holding on tight to a pen, as if to rid some nerves from her. It was shaking, there was so much pressure on it, but it wasn't shaking hard enough so that I would think something was wrong. "I…" she started again, losing her words in mid-sentence, and then, looking at me straight into the eyes, she smirked. Her demeanor had changed, and she said, seriously and sweetly, "I want to spend some time with you, and to have something special happen this holiday season."

I laughed at her request, knowing that it would probably be the easiest thing I could provide for her. But her response was exactly what she had planned it to be, and it had done its effect against me perfectly. While my eyes were closed, and I laughed, she looked over at Kenny, and he looked up at her, and she gave him a very serious, very determined, look.

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**Review Replies:**

**Hunter49a:** Glad you think chapter seven was better. I had a lost more muse to go on with that chapter (it's getting those chapters in between that I have to keep hitting).

**Shini-chii**Soon. Soon enough you shall ALL see what's going on with dear Kenny and Miyuki. –grins evilly- I was very inspired by the ED.

**Syaoran Li Clow: **Everyone is very bugged by that. I'm not trying to torture you, but these things MUST happen in a very specific order! –taps the outline- See? 2 more chapters!

**Ominae:** The ending was spectacular. I still can't get over it. –goes to watch it again for more muse- I can't believe it ACTUALLY happened. –dies-

**Arakan:** Yay! Glad you like it! Hope you were pleased with this chapter!

**Major Mike Powell III: **I'm glad that you're reading this, even though you haven't watched the anime! I've only seen season one (actually, I still have to see the last disc. I've been lazy lately). You will get some fluff in good time. As said in the above comments – next chapter. ) Then it starts getting fluffy. And dramatic.

**RanKuro:** Glad that you like it! Sorry this took so long!

**LunarMiko07: **I know; that love confession was one that just popped up during the time that I was writing these chapters. The REAL love confession will be a good one.


	9. A hand on your life

Chapter Nine: A hand on your life 

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Wow… I have not felt this good in a LONG time.

Heck, I've relaxed all day today. And do you know why??

First snow day of the season, baby. Oh yeah. Nothing like waking up at 5:30 and then getting to go back to bed because there's too much snow. We actually might get a delay or something tomorrow too; total accumulation is supposed to be around 12-14".

I also have a VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.

Because I'm museless, and the chapter plots I've made for this story are VERY vague, I will only be doing 16 chapters. So… yeah! That means that the confession is… in… 4 more chapters.

BUT YOU GET TO FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON THIS AND NEXT CHAPTER! OH BOY! THE DRAMA! THE AGONY! QUICK, GO READ IT!

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'It's no good…' 

That was what I thought, when Miyuki asked about Christmas. I hadn't even thought about the holiday; November had just flown by so quickly, and now that it was December, I was starting to worry. Miyuki wasn't very excited about a lot of holidays, but Christmas… well, Christmas was when her feelings for people _really_ started to show. Like… the first Christmas that passed when I met her… she made something for Kenny. An actual sweater; she knitted it for weeks, almost two months, and had it done in time for Christmas. She was so happy, and he was so happy.

Sitting by them, on that snowy Christmas night, was probably the most painful moment of my entire life.

I answered her question as I could, but I still didn't know. I knew that she had something planned for Kenny, something that I didn't know about yet. I knew it was something special, and I knew that he would love it. I didn't know what she was going to do for me, and really, I didn't care. But… I was jealous about how even _Kenny_ could come up with something more romantic than I could. Hell; I _lived_ with this woman, and I didn't know what I was going to do for her for Christmas.

"'Scuse me for a minute, will ya Miyuki?" I asked her, standing up out of my seat before she could nod to me, and I looked at Kenny again. I sent him another serious look, and he looked as if I gave him the death glare. He wouldn't take a hint, would he? _'Idiot,'_ I thought, and then walked away, and out the door of the traffic wing. I didn't really have a plan of where I was going to go, but I needed to take a walk. I needed to get out and think about some things. If I didn't, I might not get to think about them at all.

I opened a door, and started walking up towards the roof. I liked going up into the open air to think; the adrenaline from being up so high and in the wind must get my blood pumping or something. As I stepped out, I felt the bitter cold of a December wind blow against my bare arms, and I shivered slightly. Still no snow; I needed to get in as much thinking as I possibly could, before the roof was covered in snow. It was a death wish to stay up here when the ice and snow covered the roof; one slip, and you could be decorating the front parking lot of the station.

I walked towards the edge, and leaned against my crossed arms on the railing. I looked out towards Tokyo, looking at the city, seeing the parking lot full with cars, waiting for their owners to get in and drive them home. It was empty and full at the same time; the world seemed to be busy and silent in the exact same moment. _'Weird…'_ I thought, getting a little frustrated. So what if Christmas was coming? Wasn't it giving, not receiving, that was the whole point?

I suddenly opened my eyes in realization. "That's it…" I muttered, as I slowly stood up, and then felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Tsujimoto?"

I whipped around, and there I was, staring straight into the face of none other than Ken Nakajima. My dumbfounded face, still from my thought that I had just a moment ago, turned into a confident, smirking face. "Ken Nakajima…" I said, in a way that would have hinted that I was either really pissed, or mischievously glad to see him. He got the point, and grimaced as he took a few steps backwards. "Hey, settle down, okay Kenny?" I said, raising one of my hands in an attempt to show that I was completely innocent.

"Uh… okay…?" I could see that he still wasn't buying it. Instantaneously, my wide look sharpened, and I glared at him.

"Kenny, just shut up and listen, okay. You're being even more thick-headed than usual," I said, completely not in the mood to bother with this sort of crap from Nakajima. He looked at me, now dumbfounded, and I put my hands on my hips. "You owe me, Kenny," I said, much to his surprise, and his mouth drooped open. He couldn't think of a comeback quick enough. "I've tried to make this easier for you, but you don't get it," I said, crossing my arms and pacing in front of him. I really was getting tired of laying it out thick for him, giving him plenty of opportunities, and then he didn't acknowledge a single one.

He still wasn't getting the point. I stopped, looked at him sternly, and then said, "You remember our deal? I give you the chance, even give you what to _say_, and you ask Miyuki out on _one_ date? Do you remember?" At that question, I got right in his face, making sure he was still paying attention, and he nodded at me, looking worried. I backed up, began pacing again, and said, "I told you what to say, you had a _perfect_ opportunity while I was inside to ask, and you've had much more than that for the past few months, Kenny." I liked dragging this on; it made his face droop more as he began to see that he was starting to push my limits. "Just ask her out!"

"I can't do that!" Suddenly, a decisive answer from Kenny came pouring out of his mouth, and I stopped in my tracks. "I can't do it, Natsumi; you know how tongue-tied I get around Miyuki, and knowing that you're watching, along with everyone else, just doesn't cut it for me," he said, and I couldn't take it anymore.

I slapped him hard across the face.

Now, I've never been overly violent with Kenny. This took him as a surprise, and for once, the glasses were knocked off of his square head, and he looked the other way. I put down my hand, down at my side, and glared at him. "That doesn't cut it for you?" I asked him, rage and fury building up faster than it ever had. My blood was hot, and I suddenly felt like I should throw him over the side of the building for saying that. "That doesn't cut it for you?" I repeated, as he picked up his sunglasses, and I just kept glaring at him. "She _likes_ you, Nakajima! She's liked you for a long time! She made you that sweater last year, and she slaved over it for _MONTHS_!" I was yelling now, extremely angry at how foolish his word choices were. "She _deserves_ something from you, but no, you don't think so," I took this moment to stare him in the face, as he looked at me after fixing his glasses, "but that doesn't cut it for you."

I turned on my heel as fast as I could, and started out of the door. I would need a long break to vent this one.

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But that was only the beginning of my problems. Sure, Miyuki was going to get out of the apartment _sometime_ this winter, maybe even in time for Christmas, but that was a completely different story for me. If Miyuki went out, that would mean that I was left alone in the house, just like I kind of was last year. My Christmas was ruined because of the "Santa-thief" last year, and, as usual, Kenny and Miyuki had a happily every after to that day. However, I spent the rest of it sulking in my room, with nothing else to do.

I didn't want to spend Christmas alone. Although I really wanted to spend it with Miyuki, I knew that, hopefully, she wouldn't be available that night. I knew, and no matter how much it hurt to admit it, I knew that she should still be with Nakajima. She liked him so much that it made me sick, but it was enough that I could really consider her over my own feelings. She didn't want to spend a Christmas night watching me drink beer while we watched old Christmas animation and videos on the television. No; she wanted to go out, and be with people, and I knew that, above anyone, one of those people would probably be Nakajima.

'_Lucky him…'_ I thought, almost cursing him in my mind, as I slowly walked down the stairs and slammed the door behind me. Nobody was in the hall, which was good, otherwise I would have gotten a few odd stares, but it made the place seem lonely. I wished it was time for a patrol or something. I wanted to get out, and to silently vent my frustrations with Kenny somewhere that nobody would hear me. It wasn't healthy, to hold in all of this frustration, but what else could I do; hopefully I wouldn't have to deal with it for much longer.

"Natsumi?"

Miyuki's voice alerted me, and I picked my head up, watching her walk toward me. "Where'd you go? And do you have any clue where Nakajima went off to?"

Again with Nakajima. My stomach twisted and turned against itself, as I fought the urge to yell again. No point in yelling at Miyuki; she didn't do anything wrong. "I was up on the roof. Had to think for a little while." My explanation caused her to look at me with a worried expression, and although I knew it was sarcasm, I glared at her lightly. "Just because I don't do it often doesn't mean I don't think, Miyuki," I said, and she looked up at the ceiling, pretending to be completely innocent. I jerked my head towards the door I had just come from, and finished, "Nakajima walked up there when I was coming down. Maybe you should go help him; I think I saw smoke coming from his ears."

She looked at me with a shocked expression, like my humor was both unwelcome, yet too funny not to recognize, and she hit my arm lightly. "Just because he doesn't think often…" she started saying, but I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Doesn't mean he actually does think."

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It was after my lunch break that Miyuki and Kenny and I were in the same room. Although I had tried my best to stay away from him, now it was inevitable, as we sat across the table from each other, at each of our desks. Miyuki was doing something with the computer, probably typing up some paperwork or something, while I merely played with my pencil. I sent little glares at Kenny now and then, and judging by his very concentrated expression on his desk, he must have noticed.

As I kept twirling my pencil around my fingers, I looked around the room, trying to get something on my mind that would keep me busy during this silent period of the day. The Christmas tree in the corner of the room glistened brightly with the different colored Christmas lights, but nothing out of the ordinary there could keep my mind busy for more than a few seconds. Yoriko and Aoi were out on patrol; there was nothing exciting there. Even the chief looked busy.

'_The chief…'_ I thought, looking at him. Such a long time ago, or so it seemed, I had a crush on him. He was the perfect guy, back before I met Tokairin, and before I realized that there was only one person I could be content with. Something about his mature air, or his distinguished personality, just drew him to me. Although he wasn't quite as serious about his work as Miyuki was, there was still enough so that he worried about it, even when he wasn't at the station. Poor chief; it really did cause him a lot of grief, especially because of the two pairs of girls he had working for him.

'_That's it,'_ I thought, and then dropped my pencil to my desk with a harsh slam. It woke up Kenny, who looked up at me, and Miyuki, who suddenly slammed her fingers down on the keyboard. I stood up, confident and fast, and looked at Nakajima seriously again. He met my stare, worried, fear completely obvious in his thick face, and then I glanced at Miyuki. I was nervous; my whole body felt like it was going to collapse. _'I got to do this,'_ I thought, reassuring myself, as I looked towards the black-haired beauty sitting beside me.

I turned, and walked over to the chief's desk, waiting until he noticed me. I stood up straight, alert and looking slightly scared, as I felt Kenny's and Miyuki's eyes watching me from behind, along with the rest of the precinct. Finally, after what seemed like a million years, the chief looked up at me, and said, "Can I help you, Tsujimoto?"

I gulped, looking at him nervously, and finally took a breath and said, "Chief, will you spend Christmas with me?"

My life froze, right then. For a split second, it froze, and I felt both cold and hot at the same time. I was in the hot spot; I had said something that I could never take back, and now that it was said, I was in a very deep hole that I dug. I was in for it. My heart was beating against my ribcage furiously, trying to punish me for asking the wrong person, and for pushing away the feelings for Miyuki that I knew that I had. But it was too risky; getting too close and getting hurt when she went out with Nakajima wasn't healthy for me.

The chief looked disturbed at me. He looked around the precinct, to my partner, Nakajima, and the rest of the silent room, and then looked back to me. I was nervous, and anxious, and holding back every emotion that was flooding my body. "I'm… sorry Tsujimoto. I… I have plans that night," he responded, and suddenly, the dam that I had built up broke.

I nodded to him, saluted, and said, "Yes sir. Sorry for the disruption, sir," and then walked away. I didn't go back to my seat, however. Miyuki stood up, ready to come towards me, but I wasn't going her direction. Kenny stood up, and as we looked at each other, I knew he was curious by what I was trying to pull here. I didn't give him a chance to ask questions. As I passed by, out of view of Miyuki, I said, "That's how you're supposed to do it." I continued to walk out of the room as he turned to follow me with my eyes, and exited before Miyuki could call my name through the thick silence.

The moment I was out in the hall, I was running towards the garage. I opened the trunk of the patrol car, took out my moto compo, and set off. I tore out of the parking lot like I was in a race, and it was a good thing too. My heart couldn't take much more of this lying, this planning, for Nakajima. Miyuki's sympathetic face burned in my head, and as I drove as fast as I possibly could towards home, the tears flew behind me.

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**Review Replies: **

**Major Mike Powell III: **Yay! Glad you like it! This chapter isn't too fluffy, but… yeah, just wait until the real confession. It will make you giggle it's so fluffy.

**Syaoran Li Clow: **I never thought about making Miyuki react that way… hey, that might be fun. I was wondering what I could possibly put into the final chapters. And yes; there is someone in Japan thinking about Natsumi and Miyuki. I just know it.

**RanKuro:** I completely agree with you; there are not enough Natsumi/Miyuki fics.

**LunarMiko07: **Good! I hope you'll enjoy it. I'm trying really hard to make it nice and fluffy and make it one of those "oh man, I need to read this over and over and over again" confessions.

**Hunter49a:** Good thing you have that alert; I was afraid a lot of people were going to miss this update. And I probably will go over that chapter… eventually.

**Ominae:** I was hoping you'd say that. Not really, but it makes me feel good that you did!


	10. You Started My Path

Chapter Ten: You Started My Path 

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Well… Christmas tomorrow…

I am trying to get to the confession before the end of tomorrow.

So yes, enjoy. Short but sweet, and more chapters to come. I want to get the last three up before tomorrow night, so beware for many alerts coming to your inbox!

Also, Natsumi will explain her actions in the earlier chapter when her next chapter comes up.

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"Chief, will you spend Christmas with me?"

I froze in my seat. I was staring at the report I had been typing up, the computer screen suddenly a hot white that burned my eyes, and my fingers stopped on the keyboard. I couldn't move. I heard Natsumi's voice ringing inside my head, more than I had ever heard it before, over and over, that same question vibrating in and out through every brain cell I had. I turned my eyes from the computer screen, and looked at Natsumi, who still had her back towards me. The Captain was looking at me with wonder and confusion, as if I had an answer to give him, but I didn't. There was the longest pause of silence as he looked around the room, searching for answers, and when he finally spoke it was like a gunshot. I actually flinched when he shot her down.

She stood tall and straight, and took it like I knew she would take it. But there was something different about her now; it was almost like she was trying too hard. She stood too straight, too determined, and turned with such an edge on her heel that I could see that something was wrong. I felt naïve; if I had been turned down, I probably would have had something wrong with me too. I stood up, but she didn't come back to her desk, and instead made a line for Kenny. She hesitated as she was out of my view, near Kenny, and then continued to walk heavily out of the room, and I could only follow her with my eyes. My heart plummeted as she slammed the door behind her.

The rest of the traffic department was quiet; the drop of a pencil could have sounded like a cannonball being launched, it was so deathly quiet. Nobody said a word. Instead, they all stared at me. I looked at the door still, not sure what to think, what to say, or anything. It was a long moment of pure silence until I finally came back to reality. It was like I had just had a vision, and as I suddenly put my eyes back into focus, I realized that this wasn't a horrible nightmare. "Natsumi…" I whispered, and then ran off, leaving no note and running out of the office as fast as I possibly could in my heels. It was a painful, and it hurt to think that I was going so slow, but I had to try. She could have well been outside the building by now, but I had to try.

"NATSUMI!" I screamed as I ran out through the large doors of the building, and it was just in time, too; I saw her moto compo stream out of the parking lot like it was on fire. She had never been that upset before, even in the years that we had known each other. She had never let her emotions carry her away. It made me feel horrible that I thought I was her best friend. I thought that her crush on the Captain was over with, and that Tokairin was the only man in her life that even stood a chance, but I guess I was wrong. I had no time to lose; I sped off towards the garage, got into our patrol car and zoomed off, not stopping for a moment as I tore out of the parking lot with just as much speed as she had.

It was awkward being in the car alone without her at my side. I was so used to her sitting there that I almost forgot that she was the one I was actually chasing. _'Natsumi, what is going on?'_ I thought, worried beyond all belief, as I went down all the main roads to try and find her. Even as I started to give up, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A moped. _Her_ moto compo.

My heart stopped in its tracks. It was her moto compo, laid out on the side of the road, without the rider. "Oh my god!" I screamed, as if she were dead, and slammed down on the brakes of our patrol vehicle. Not now; it couldn't be like this only a few days until Christmas. "Natsumi?! Natsumi?!" I yelled as I got out of the car, running over to her moto compo that was laying on its side on the very edge of the road. The river was near, and as I looked down the grassy hill, I saw her laying there. My heart lurched, and I ran forward, tripping along the way, and made it to her.

"Natsumi! Natsumi!" I said, shaking her shoulder as she laid facedown in the grass, her arms crossed.

"… Leave me alone…" It was a voice that wasn't hers. She had never spoken like that. It was if I could actually hear how heartbroken she was. It hurt so bad, and it wasn't even me who was hurting inside.

I stayed frozen for another minute or so, my hand on her shoulder tenderly, as she kept still. She was in no condition to drive. I squeezed her shoulder lightly, and said, "Wait here." I stood and climbed back up the hill, setting up her moto compo and then folding it over so that I could put it in the car. I reached in through the window on the driver's side, grabbed our communication device, and sent a warning to the Captain that Natsumi was in no state to patrol, and that I was going to take her home, and both of us were taking the rest of the day off. Technically, those are personal issues that aren't supposed to be talked about over the radio, but for right now, I didn't care. All I needed to do was get Natsumi home.

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We drove slowly, after I got her situated into the car, and looked at her face. She had barely enough time to put on her helmet, and it wasn't even securely fastened on her head. She had scrapes all over her face, including one on her forehead that was the worst, probably from tumbling over the pavement as she lost control of her bike. That was all she remembered, and even if she wouldn't admit it as the reason why she lost control, I knew from the redness of her eyes that she must have been crying before she crashed, and that it was the reason she tumbled over.

I didn't press her, but I did mull over my thoughts. I was wondering why the postcard from Tokairin, normally stuck to her bulletin board at home, hadn't been brooded over at all since he had come back. Normally it was like a ritual for Natsumi; she'd wake up, salute the card, have breakfast and then we'd leave. But I hadn't heard anything about Tokairin since he had returned, rather than how much of a bastard he was. I figured that all of what she had said that night was just a drunken stupor, and that she didn't really mean any of it. But I guess I was wrong about that too.

As I pulled into the driveway in our patrol vehicle (granted, not the best thing to do) I had to fight off our landlord and tell him that we needed to come home right away, and there was no time to get our other car. He looked unimpressed, and maybe a bit suspicious since I was still in my uniform, but I didn't give him any attention. Instead, I helped Natsumi out of the car, locked the doors, and helped her on her way up the stairs. It was a long journey, but eventually we got to the top without too many problems.

I set her on the couch, got her a glass of water, and went to get the first aid kit. The television was turned on the moment I left the room, so I figured that Natsumi was still feeling pretty horrible about what had just happened. I drew my mouth in a straight line, and when I returned, grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Natsumi opened her mouth in protest, but I said, "I'm going to be fixing up your face anyway, so you're not going to be able to see." She seemed to take the hint and closed her mouth, even though she was very upset about it.

I cleaned up the scrapes with some cleaning fluid, and then started to dry and bandage them, and I asked, "Why didn't you tell me you still had feelings for the Captain?" She looked at me, shocked and alarmed, and I could see the tears start to well up in her red-brown colored eyes. I looked into them, and I felt so bad, but said nothing else, waiting for her answer. I wouldn't ask any more, but I just wanted to know if this was the only secret she had been keeping from me. Was it that she couldn't trust me to know that she liked the Captain again? I didn't care about that; I just cared that my partner was getting hurt.

"… I don't know," she said finally, and I looked back to what I was doing with my hands, placing a large bandage on her forehead, and just decided to listen quietly. "I… I just… I don't know. I had to say something to him. I had to do something to prove my point," she explained, and I furrowed my eyebrows, and looked at her. Prove something? To the Captain?

"What do you mean prove something?" I asked, looking to her eyes again.

She looked down at her lap for a minute, then back into my eyes, "I had to prove something to K—"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I was startled, as she was, and I got up gingerly to go and see who it was. The conversation could wait, and I was hoping this was just the landlord checking to see if everyone was all right. If it was anything longer, I might not have had the patience for it. I grasped the door handle and twisted it open, and said, "Can I help you?"

It was Ken Nakajima. I was startled again, and he mirrored the same feelings, and said, "H-H-Hi, Miyuki."

"Hi Ken. What's going on? Aren't you supposed to be on patrol?" I asked curiously, knowing that this was far too out of his route to be normal. Leave it to me to know Ken's route by heart.

"Um, yeah, about that…" he said, scratching the back of his head with the hand that wasn't holding his helmet. He was nervous about something, and I could see it even though he was wearing his glasses. "I… I wanted to see how Natsumi was," he said, and then peered over my shoulder. I looked that way too, and saw Natsumi sitting up attentively, watching us like a hawk. He seemed unnerved when I turned back to him, and then he said, "I… I also had to ask you something, Miyuki."

My heart skipped another beat. "What is it?"

He looked nervous, and then said in a hurry, "Will you spend Christmas eve with me?"

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**Review Replies: **

**Major Mike Powell III: ** Don't worry. Natsumi will explain everything. I might clear up that chapter, since it was supposed to be spread out a little more, but maybe not. I dunno. Just let me know after the next chapter, okay?

**Syaoran Li Clow: **You and I both, my friend. You just wait until…um… two more chapters. (That is becoming a very common phrase). You will laugh at Kenny, and you will be happy.

**LunarMiko07: **Yeah, I feel bad that I torture Natsumi so much, but hey, she'd do it.

**Shamanic demonator: **Thank you! I'm glad that you like it!!!

**Ominae:** Only four. I can't believe it. Driving me crazy, yet I want to space them out again… but I know I can't, because I have NOWHERE near enough muse. ( Makes this fic seem crappy because everything's gonna happen so quick, but, it's okay. I guess…

**Shini-Chii:**I know. I was almost crying when I started making the plans for that chapter. I'm glad you came back; I was wondering where you were for the last chapter.


	11. My Own Advice Kills Me

Chapter Eleven: My Own Advice Kills Me 

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Well… It's Christmas…

1/3 chapters up. Working on the last two RIGHT NOW.

W0000000T!

This chapter is a lot of sarcasm. o.o Kinda scary.

I'm also adding a bunch of music soundtracks to the chapters (the last has like 8 tracks). So, for this chapter, I recommend listening to:

_Hide and Seek_ by Imogen Heap

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'_Dammit.'_

God damn him. He had so much nerve that it practically _killed_ me to sit on the couch and watch them. In fact, I wished that I didn't feel like a two-ton truck had hit me; otherwise I would have throttled him. I was so angry with him. I had gone through hell and back, on foot, to prove a point to him. I was so over Chief it wasn't even funny, yet I had to bring everything back up. I almost killed myself with the stress that it caused. There was no point in me denying it, as long as I only had to tell myself and not Miyuki or anyone else; I was in love with her. I feely came to that decision a while ago, yet this was how it happened upon me that there was no way I could be happy unless I had her.

So I sat on the couch, propped up so that I could turn around without feeling like my head was on a pedestal, and in perfect glaring range of Kenny. God, I felt so much anger and frustration towards him. It took me crashing my bike, something I rarely did, to get him to actually come over to the house. It drove me crazy. I wanted to stand up, walk over, and strangle him as I yelled "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!", but I couldn't. All I wanted to do, and all I dared to do while I felt so messed up, was to sit here and watch. But after glaring at Kenny, I looked at Miyuki, who was still trying to pull up an answer.

She had some bandages and an ice pack in her hand, and she was squeezing them with all her might. Her back was a lot more rigid than it ever was, and she was scared. Maybe she was caught off guard, and judging by her body language, she was probably blushing and trying to keep it down. But I knew, and I just knew, that she didn't know what to say. Instead, I knew I had to keep something going, maybe even get her out of this situation, so I sighed heavily, enough to get their attention. 'Kenny, about time man." I said at first, not really into the whole idea that he had asked her out _now_. I mean, jeez, she was fawning over _me_ for once!

"What do you mean, 'about time'?" both she and Kenny asked me at the same time. This caused them to look at each other and then look to the floor, both of them as red as cherries. I almost burst out laughing since it was so funny to watch. Her eyes kept glancing at him, even though she was predominantly staring at the ground, and she took a few moments before looking back up and saying, "Would you like to come in, Nakajima?"

That was the ticket. He looked up hurriedly, and put his free hand against the shell of his helmet. "No, no, no, I, uh, have to be going back to patrol now!" he exclaimed, and then with a quick goodbye, practically ran out the door. As our door clicked softly, shutting, Miyuki just stood there, looking at the door while cradling the bandages and ice pack. Meanwhile, I draped myself over the couch, glaring at the very place he was standing.

'_God damn you, Kenny. You wimp,'_ I thought, angrier than ever. It was a weird feeling; I was both happy that he had asked her out, but angry that he had left without an answer. It was so frustrating with him. He and Miyuki kept tap dancing on the subject of going out on dates, and in the years that I had known them, they had gone out _once_. Only once. It was sickening to the point that now I was thoroughly sick of it. I had tried to keep my hopes down, so that I wouldn't get ahead of myself, and that I wouldn't try to have my way all the time. When it came to Miyuki, she came first, and that was just how it was.

Funny; when we had first met, I couldn't stand her. I wanted to be rid of her. Yet here I was, only a short while later, in love with her to the point that I was trying to set her up with her dreamboat because I knew it was what she wanted. I had no problem admitting it; I was definitely in love with her. It was different from what I felt with Tokairin. It wasn't warranted with a reason, nor was it hot in flashes that either came or disappeared at any random moment. It just… was. There really was no way to describe how strongly I felt for her.

"Natsumi?"

Her voice was quiet, and as I looked up, I saw that she was looking at me with such a clash of emotions that it was hard to answer. I bit my lip, and then turned around on the couch. How was I going to address her? After all, I couldn't tell her that I had almost beaten Kenny to get the point across, or that I had asked out the Chief just to prove my point, or anything like that. Maybe before I would have, but now I just couldn't. It was different now; there was actually a date request in the air. She repeated my name, but I stayed silent, until I heard her soft footsteps coming towards the couch. In time, she sat beside me, and we sat together in silence.

She put down the bandages she was holding, and put the ice pack in my hand. She leaned over and put her hands, linked together by the fingers, over her mouth. And she sat there, intently staring at the wall, like she normally did when she had a decision to make. Normally I was in the other room, working out or something, so I didn't see this too often, but I could really see how much her eyes moved when she was hard at work, trying to think of what to do. She normally didn't think this hard; only when it came to Kenny. It made me jealous, and I always wondered if she ever thought about _me_ that hard. My mouth straightened into a line as I watched her, unable to decide of what to say with my options being completely blank.

"Miyuki?"

She came back to reality, blinking a few times, and then looked down at the white carpet of our apartment. She didn't want to answer, just as I had before, but I knew that she was going to brood over this forever. "Miyuki…" I said again, just like she had with me, and now she turned the other way, so that she didn't have to look at me. That made me sad, and a little frustrated, but nonetheless I was going to talk to her about this. If she took Kenny this way, how was it going to be if I ever told her _my_ feelings?

"Miyuki, what's wrong?" I asked, seriously not seeing the problem with her and dear Kenny going out on Christmas Eve.

She looked at me, rotating her whole body so slowly that I felt like it was a Matrix moment or something. She looked at me with disbelief in those gorgeous blue eyes, but I showed nothing that mirrored it. I wanted to know the answer to the question, and she knew that there was no way to get out of this. Instead, she looked at the carpet, sighed, and said, "… It's… It's just not _fair_."

I was definitely confused now. "What's not fair? That he finally asked you out?"

"STOP SAYING THAT!"

It was a moment of pure silence. I looked at her, and she looked at me, and we were staring into each other's eyes without emotion. I was taken aback, and she was just determined, but it didn't show. She hadn't yelled at me in a long time, and it made me feel like I was being scolded or something. In fact, it really hurt. I was just trying to help, and trying to lighten up the mood, but that wasn't what she wanted. Hell, I didn't _want _to give her up; if I had any other option, I would probably take it. But this was all for her, not for me, and she didn't know how hard it was not to wrap my arms around her and hold her close to me, just like I yearned to do everyday. She didn't know how hard it was to go on and pretend that we were only friends, when I felt such passion for her that she didn't even reflect.

Her gaze softened, and I looked away this time. "… I'm sorry," I said, and shrugged my shoulders. What else could I possibly do; nothing. I didn't know what she wanted, so I supposed that letting her figure it out on her own was probably the best thing for now.

"Natsumi, it's not fair to you," she said, spitting it out like it was on fire, and I looked back at her. Tears were welling up in the corners of her eyes, and now I could see what was wrong. "It's not fair… I'd leave, and you'd be alone, and I wouldn't know what to do… It's not fair to leave you alone on Christmas Eve…"

I pressed my finger to her lips, to stop her from continuing this nonsense. No wonder she was so unreceptive to Ken's offer; she didn't want to hurt me. If I had to give a reason for the love that I harbored for Miyuki, this would be it; her unselfish nature. She wanted to make sure that I was okay. I guess she still thought that I was in love with the Chief, when really, it couldn't be further from the truth. I looked into her eyes, trying to send the message that it was my turn to speak and that she should listen, and I sighed lightly.

"Miyuki, you've waited for this for forever…" I said lightly, looking a little more intensely as I felt her lips part, as if she was going to interrupt, "Ken's been a chicken this whole time, and now that he finally asks, you're too busy worrying about me to actually _consider_ his offer." I knew I was hitting dead on because she flinched, and said, "Tomorrow's Christmas eve. Go out, have a good time, go out to dinner and have fun with him, Miyuki."

It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But it was worth it as she nodded, ready to give him a chance.

Or… at least I think it was.

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**Review Replies: **

**Shini-Chii:**Aww, I hate that. But think; at least there IS an alert. Unlike the days when there wasn't (or I was just too stupid to know about it way back when P) I agree with the "argh Ken" stuff. He gets in the way. Oh well, not too much of him left. –gasp- Don't tell!

**ShoujouGirl (): ** I like your enthusiasm! Gets me all pumped up and ready to write! Plus, writing this while everyone's asleep on X-mas morning is a PAIN. But, I gotta; it will ease my nerves. HOW ARE THE EPISODES?! I've only seen English subtitled ones… and I want to see all of them…

**LunarMiko07: **Glad you feel that way! I love it when I make my readers happy! And… -sigh- Miyuki's just gonna get so frustrating from this point on. P

**Shamanic demonator: **Will do! Hope this and the next two will be good enough for you!

**Major Mike Powell III: **Absolutely necessary. Needed something good to get them out of work. And I hope that you will keep going; you will see what happens. O


	12. My Heart in Two Directions

Chapter Twelve: My Heart in Two Directions 

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… I cried over this chapter.

I wrote all the chapters out so that I could just post them up at once, right?

Yeah, well the computer fscking hates me, and I saved over this chapter with chapter thirteen…

I cried, so this sucks, but sorry guys. I really did not have enough left to rewrite this whole damn chapter. Maybe I'll revise it, but for right now, it stays crappy like this. You have the next chapter to look forward to, and I should probably try a little harder because it's Christmas and all, but I'm done.

I promised to get them up, so I'm keeping that promise.

Music track for this chapter is:

_Beautiful Soul _by Jesse McCartney

**-**eats pocky she got in her stocking to drown her sorrows-

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Natsumi and I had talked little since that time, especially about Kenny. I think she knew better than to bring it up with me again, and she gave me my space and didn't talk about him any more. It was a good thing, too; I was already feeling the pressure on what I was going to do the following day. I kept asking myself questions like "why now?" and "Why tomorrow?" but I could never give myself an answer. It was kind of how Kenny worked; he liked to give little notice, because then he could cancel any plans and wouldn't have to fret about them. When we went on our first date, set up by the Captain and everyone, it was short notice, and it was better that way. He didn't have enough time to worry about anything, and it was probably the nicest time I've spent alone with him.

But as the night wore on, I began to worry about it more and more. When Natsumi and I went to our bedrooms to go to bed, I stayed up, looking out my window for what seemed like hours. I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to sleep. If I did, then tomorrow might come sooner than I wanted it to, and then I wouldn't know what to do. I already didn't know how I was going to react to Ken when I saw him tomorrow. I was probably worrying more about it than I really needed to, but there was so much to think about. Not only thinking about Nakajima, but about Natsumi as well. After all, she was as much included in this as either Ken or I was. She was the one I would be ditching for Christmas Eve, after we had spent the past few Christmases together.

I didn't want to leave her alone, especially on Christmas Eve. But she was so stubborn, and I knew that she wanted me to go. That was how Natsumi worked; she was stubborn to the point that you eventually gave up and let her have her way, simply because it wasn't worth fighting for anymore. Natsumi was also stubborn in the way that she normally didn't let on what she was feeling until it was so obvious that she exploded with it. If she was feeling sad, she normally put it off, but if she was angry or annoyed, she would show it. The things that she had to talk through, the tough stuff, were the things that she hid. She never told me anything, and I was her best friend.

I curled into the covers, laying down and watching the reflections of the moon dance on my wall as the wind blew the trees around outside. There was supposed to be snow on Christmas Eve; a cliché everyone was used to. I couldn't think about much else though, as I shut my eyes somewhere past two in the morning and drifted off to sleep after agonizing over my decisions for half of my lifetime.

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"Hey partner. Wake up."

I looked towards the door, or rather in the direction I thought the door was in, and opened my eyes sleepily. Natsumi was standing there, for once ready to go before I was even up, and I turned over so I could face her. "What time is it?"

She sighed, smiled, and said, "Time to go. Or else we're gonna be late."

I groaned, really not caring for once, and turned over and slammed my pillow on top of my head. She chuckled, as I tried to curl up into a little ball, and I felt her throw something on my bed, which I guessed was clothes, and more probably my uniform since we had both come home in them yesterday. She walked out, saying something along the lines of she was going to work without me, because the neighbors had noticed that the patrol car was still in the parking lot. _'Ugh…'_ I thought, realizing that not only did I have to get up because Natsumi was a terror on the road in a car, but because the neighbors would probably be pulling some story about the landlord, who was already skeptical

I got up, got dressed, and ran out the door. Natsumi was already buckled in the passenger seat, the car already started so that she was sitting with the heat fully blasted. Although normally I would scold her, it felt so nice stepping into a car that was nice and heated, and I felt warm from head to toe. I buckled in and drove out of the parking lot, away from the nosy neighbors, and headed to work, both of us already in uniform.

It was about five minutes before we got to work when Natsumi asked, "Have you decided?"

I winced, looking straight ahead at the road, and said, "Not yet."

She sighed, no doubt frustrated, and I thought about my words for a minute. I liked Ken, sure I did, but I didn't want to leave her at the apartment all by herself. This was the one time that we actually got a day off without having to take too much punishment for it, and I had wanted to spend it with her. "If you don't say anything, I'll tell him yes for you," she threatened, and I stopped the car harshly at the traffic light.

I looked at her in alarm, and hissed, "You wouldn't…" The smirk and the glint in her red-brown eyes clearly told me that she would. I stubbornly looked back out in front of me, unwillingly caught in a trap, and said, "All right. All right. I'll tell him."

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When I got to the office, I was a little worried. I didn't know if Ken would be there, waiting for me, or what was going to happen, so I stayed close to Natsumi all morning. But, to my great surprise, he wasn't there. But it hurt. It hurt and it was angering at the same time. I wanted to get this over with, but him not being there was causing dramatic complications. I was so tempted to call him and let him know my answer, but knowing the all-hearing ears of Yoriko, that would be a short-lived story.

Thank god he showed up after lunch.

I was at my desk when I noticed him come in and sit down at his, which is right across from mine. I was writing another report, the same one I had been working on since this morning because I could barely concentrate, and I was nervous. I quickly wrote the last few sentences to the report, got up and walked and delivered the report to the Captain. He nodded approvingly, but said nothing, which was usual for him.

I took a deep breath and turned around. Natsumi was looking at me intently, while Nakajima stared at his desk as if there was something there. I released my breath, then walked towards him, and asked, "Where should I meet you tonight, Ken?"

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There was an uproar from the crowd of people that was in the room at the time. Ken had started it by screaming and standing up with shock, which alerted Yoriko and Aoi to the point that they swarmed me with questions and comments. The rest of the room followed suit, such that Natsumi and the Captain were the only two sitting. Natsumi had her hand over her eyes, which I couldn't figure out if it was to keep from seeing us, or to keep her from meeting my eyes because she was about to laugh.

He and I met at the fountain in the center of Tokyo, nearby a park and a lot of shops. I wore a blue skirt, a white long sleeved shirt and a yellow vest, which was a little chilly for me, but it looked nice and it was warm enough. He was the complete opposite though; full tuxedo with tie, which stood out in the crowd of people. I almost laughed when I saw him, and when we walked down the street together, doing window shopping, it was weird walking next to someone so formally dressed.

We stopped for a minute so that I could go into a store, and we got separated in the "night-before-Christmas" rush that went through Tokyo at this time of year. I had always made a point not to go shopping on Christmas Eve, and now I remembered why. When we met up again, he pulled a little box out of the pocket of his tux jacket, and when I opened it, I realized that it was the scarf I had been admiring just a few minutes back when we were window shopping. I felt warmth flood my body as I put it on, and I looked up at him as he smiled at me.

We went to some fancy restaurant where he had already reserved a table for two for dinner. It was higher class than I was used to, but we got along just fine. He tried many different conversations to try to keep the mood up, but by the end of dinner I was very comfortable talking to him about mostly anything. He was a very calm and casual guy once he became less uptight around me.

We took a walk down the riverside after we were done eating, close to where Natsumi had crashed yesterday. It was then where I put my hand on his arm, and he led me on a little bit, but we walked in near silence. That was, until, he said, "Miyuki? Can I… can I give you something?"

I was starting to get worried now, because I didn't like the fact that he had another gift to give me, when I got him nothing. He stopped and I stopped, and I looked at him through his near-opaque glasses, and nodded.

And slowly, oh so slowly, he started to lean in towards me. My eyes widened by fractions every so often, and then started to close, almost leaning in myself. I could feel his breath on my face, and I had just closed my eyes and was ready to accept his kiss when I saw Natsumi's face in my head. She was looking at me, shocked and hurt, and I had the biggest pain surge through my chest like I had never experienced before.

"NO!"


	13. The Pleasant World

Chapter Thirteen: The Pleasant World 

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3/3. W00T! FINALLY DONE! –dies- You better be patient for the next three now, heheh.

Music track for this chapter is:

_A Thousand Miles _by Vanessa Carlton

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I'll have a blue Christmas without you 

_I'll be so blue just thinking about you_

_Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree_

_Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me._

Ah. Elvis. He was a big hit in America in the early years, back before I was born. His songs inspired a lot of people, and even though nobody knew how he died or what his goals were, or anything like that, he was a hero. Everyone knew his name, even me, as I sat on the couch with my second beer can in hand, alone in the apartment. And yes, that was the theme for this evening; Blue Christmas. I had listened to this song over and over again for the past hour now, missing Miyuki like crazy, just because that was how I felt.

I had unplugged the Christmas tree and put a blanket over the presents, I was so upset. I didn't want to think about Christmas right now. I wanted to think about absolutely nothing, while horribly depressing songs played from my boom box and I looked up at the ceiling without a care in the world. I took another sip of my beer, and sighed deeply. I missed Miyuki more than I had in a long time. This was horrible. I was filled with so many spiteful feelings towards Kenny for actually being a man and asking her out, and it was selfish of me. I knew I wasn't the most unselfish person there was, but this was just plain ridiculous.

When the song came around again, I looked at the clock to see what time it was. Nine thirty. Miyuki should have been home by now. My mind raced with possible options of where she could be, and because I was starting to feel the effects of some alcohol, my theories spun out of control, giving Ken more credit as a man than he was actually capable of. And now I actually opened my mouth, and sang, "But I'll have a blue, blue blue blue Christmasssssss" with enough force and off-key points that a howling dog could have done better than I did.

The door slammed, and I was instantly alert as I sat up quickly on the couch and almost threw my beer across the room. It was Miyuki, standing in the doorway, locking the door and sobbing like she had never sobbed before. "Miyuki?!" I asked, putting the can down to run over to her. "Are you okay?! What happened?!" I asked, getting angry and frustrated at what Ken could have _possibly _done now to make her so upset. Oh, I was gonna kill that boy when I saw him next.

She turned to face me, crying still, and crashed into me with so much power that I almost fell over. She hugged me tight, rubbing her face into my shoulder as she cried and cried. I was taken aback, blinked a few times, and the put my arms around her tenderly, still not sure what was going on. "Miyuki, are you okay?" I asked with a gentler tone this time, not sounding like the axe-murderer that I might become the next time I saw Ken. She still didn't answer, shaking her head as she buried her face into my shoulder. I looked at the couch, noticing that she had slipped off her shoes already, and picked her up a little bit as I carried her into the living room.

We collapsed on the couch and she cried against me, stopping every now and then to tell me what happened, and then she broke down into tears after a few sentences. It broke my heart to hear her so upset. I was also torn between what had happened at the end of their date. Ken tried to kiss her, and for some reason, she pushed him away and ran home. Heck, she didn't run to the car and drive home, she had to _run_ home, because she didn't want to waste time looking for the dang car. Obviously she was upset, and while I stroked her hair and she cried into my shoulder, I was trying not to get too giddy. She had pushed him away, so maybe that meant that he wasn't that important to her as I had figured he was. But I didn't know, and I didn't want to get too happy; even this slight bit of alcohol in my system was enough to make me say something incredibly stupid.

After about half an hour of crying, she was starting to fall asleep, since she was so tired and it was so late. She had a very emotional day, after all, and now that it was over, I bet she was glad that she was falling asleep. "You want me to bring you to your room?" I asked her, and she shook her head, clinging harder to my shirt as I suddenly became aware that she was laying right on top of me, almost. It was uncomfortable in a way, where we were laying so close together, yet it was just something I needed to get used to. After all, I had no problem with it if Miyuki was happy. I rubbed her shoulder with my thumb, as both of my arms were wrapped tightly around her upper body, and I looked at her sweet, angelic face with a smile.

"Hey partner?" I asked, and she gave a little groan, half asleep already, and I just smiled all the more tender. I came close to her ear, and whispered, "You want to spend the day with me tomorrow?" She smiled, and I did too, and she nodded her head and snuggled into my chest a little more. It was slightly awkward, but I really couldn't care. I hugged her a little more, then whispered, "Good night," and that was when we both fell asleep.

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"Natsumi… Natsumi, wake up."

I groaned, not wanting to, and tried curling into my bed a little more. Until I realized that I wasn't in my bed. I opened one of my eyes, and saw that Miyuki was laying next to me on the couch, technically half on me as the couch wasn't big enough to hold the two of us laying next to each other. My eyes widened, and I let go of her, right before she started giggling. She pushed off of me, and I was still as she got off the couch, dusted off her clothes, and then walked towards the bathroom and shut the door. While she did that, I watched her walk away from me, and when the door shut, I blinked a few times. "Wow…" I said, half mesmerized, "that wasn't just a dream…"

As she was in the bathroom, I went and changed into new clothes, relishing in the fact that we had Christmas day off and that I had no obligations set upon me today. I got dressed in a long sleeve shirt and jeans, so I would be warm, and when I walked out of my room, Miyuki was already dressed in different clothing and starting on our breakfast. I gulped, and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing lightly. "You okay?"

She looked down at the frying pan, intently staring at the eggs, until she flipped them both and looked at me. "Absolutely," she said, with a certain shine in her eyes, and I smiled back at her, "thanks partner."

It made me shiver, hearing her say it like that. Of course I was reading too much into the word "partner", but how could I not? It was too good to be true. I walked away from her and sat down at the table, waiting for her and breakfast to come and join me. I watched her as she moved around the kitchen, and leaned my head against the palm of my hand. _'I am so lucky…'_ I thought, smiling to myself as she came over and we started to have breakfast together.

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I took her out to get her car, first thing, so that we could actually move around without being on my bike. It was harder to move around on that bike now; it had been snowing all last night, and it was treacherous to drive on such snow. Plus, when it was just us in her little blue convertible, we could fit my bike in the back seat and still have room to spare. It was a lot more enjoyable to drive around in the car rather than feeling the whipping of the cold air around us. Now, I love riding my bike, but at the same time I really would love it if there were some heating system or something to use during the year, because winters in Tokyo get awfully cold.

There was almost nothing open today, since it was Christmas and all, except for a Laser tag arcade, which we quickly decided to be the main source of our entertainment for the afternoon. We suited up and got into the arena while the place was having their "Christmas day special", which included many games for a reasonable price. When Miyuki and I play our games, our games last for _hours_, and I mean hours when we're talking one or two games. Two policewomen running around with laser rifles and in huge vests mean that there is some serious playing going on. Miyuki and I don't play when we do laser tag; we are at war.

We eventually used up all of our games, and by that time it was around three in the afternoon, and we had played for a good four hours. We were sweaty and hot, and completely pleased with how much we had done. I think I started to lift Miyuki's spirits, especially because she started smiling again, which meant that she was starting to forget about last night, or at least had temporarily forgotten. I hoped that it was the case; after crying for so long last night, I didn't know if I could handle another breakdown or two. I had to keep her happy though, so that hopefully if, or when, we talked later about what had happened the previous night, she would be okay.

We stopped by a locally owned bakery and got some pastries, spending some of the Christmas cash that we had received from our parents. It was a cold day, so we needed something to warm us up. We left the bakery and set to taking the million layers of paper wrapping off of our pastries, still warm, and ate them as we walked down the streets, chatting about Christmas, and work and random things. That was how it worked; we didn't need a topic to talk about, because just about anything worked. We even passed by this skating rink, and we talked about how we should try ice skating together sometime. From there, the conversation went on and on.

"Hey partner…"

"Wha—" I responded, turning my head and before I could duck: _SPLAT!_ On my face was a large snowball, thrown from the hand of none other than Miss Miyuki Kobayakawa. She was laughing at me as I gaped at her, shocked and alarmed, as she started to scoop up another snowball. I quickly stuffed the wrapper to my pastry into my pocket, grabbed some snow, and whipped it at her. She shrieked with delight, threw her snowball, and then ran off into the snow bank, laughing and yelling "Catch me if you can!"

I couldn't control myself. It was like someone had come out of nowhere and had taken over my body. I was suddenly running after her, like there was nothing else in the world, as we dashed through the snow. It didn't matter that she was running away from me, because I knew I was going to catch her, and as we exchanged throws of snowballs, I got closer and closer until finally I had caught up so that I could tackle her to the ground. "I got you!" I exclaimed, and she laughed as we both collapsed into the snow.

I rolled over, and we laid next to each other, both of us out of breath. We laughed, and then stopped after a while and breathed heavily to catch our breath. I was smiling, and she was holding her sides, still gasping for breath, before she flopped out her arms and placed one across mine, which were also sprawled out. "No more…" she whined, though she was smiling, and I looked at her, still smiling myself, and then something rose inside of me. There was a feeling that had just popped up out of nowhere, and it started to grow and burn throughout my whole body.

It burned with such a fierce power that I couldn't stand it anymore, and I almost completely lost control of what I was doing. It was like I was on autopilot, and I was watching from the driver's seat. I sat up, looking at Miyuki, and gingerly reached out to touch her hand. Upon contact, she looked up at me, while she was laying in the snow, and I smiled at her. "Miyuki…" I started, but then stopped. How would she react, now that she was happy, but so soon after what had happened last night?

"Yes?" she asked, her blue eyes sparkling at me like they always did.

"What would you say if I said I loved you?"

She froze. It was like she had become the snow, and her face slowly melted from a smile to a straight line, where she wasn't sure how to react. She sat up next to me, and pulled her hand away slightly, and looked at me as if she hadn't heard me correctly. "What?"

I gulped again, bit my lip, and said, "… What would you think if I said that I loved you?"

There was another moment of silence. The red from the cold of the air faded from her cheeks, as she became pale, and I didn't know what to say. I was waiting for her. But there was a pit in my stomach. And it grew larger and larger as she stood up, looked at me, and then raced away from me, running onto the sidewalk and then down the street, leaving me in the snow. Every step she took fractured my heart more, and when she was finally out of sight, my brain finally caught on and let me manually pilot myself again.

I felt like she had just shot me through the heart. And to tell you the truth, it was like she had; it hurt even more than when I had tried to set her and Nakajima together.

I sat in the snow until the tears started to cascade down my cheeks, and then I walked to the other side of town to see her car gone, and my bike still parked in the spot she had vacated. It mirrored my heart; one half missing. I had lost my partner.

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Author's Note:

… I LOVE THESE TWO. –Squishes their plushies-

Merry Christmas, everyone! And I hope you liked your three installments that I wrote in one morning!

Even if this ending is HORRIBLY HEARTBREAKING.


	14. Blind Pain

Chapter Fourteen: Blind Pain 

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… I don't know what to say guys. All your comments were vague, not to put you down or anything, so… I dunno how to respond. Was the chapter bad? Was my writing bad? I dunno, maybe the plot was bad? I couldn't tell sarcasm from reality, so I dunno if I really made you guys mad with that chapter or what.

That's how this story's going, guys. I'm sorry; I do have it planned out, and it's not gonna be a fluffy bunny story. There's a huge plot coming up in the next chapter and you all are probably going to rip my head off, but it's gotta happen.

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"What would you think if I said I loved you?" 

Her voice rang in my head, over and over again. The same exact sentence she said, followed by the same exact smile, as she looked at me with such innocence on her face. She was honest with me to the point that I almost thought she was joking, but the serious look in her red-brown eyes made me believe that this was something that Natsumi was really trying to tell me. She was trying to tell me that she loved me.

"What would you think if I said I loved you?" 

I kept tossing and turning in bed, little knowing that I was having a dream that replayed that moment over and over again. I hadn't seen Natsumi since I had left her in the park, since I had come directly home and locked my bedroom door and hadn't been out since. I didn't want to eat, or drink, or even risk seeing Natsumi, because I didn't know what to say to her. What could I _possibly_ say to that? She had confessed her love to me. The day after Kenny tried to kiss me, and she had done all she could to cheer me up, and then she confessed her _love_ to me!

"What would you think if I said I loved you?" 

My eyes finally snapped open as I stopped tossing and turning in bed. I had been doing that all night; having the same dream of the same moment over and over again, and then I'd wake up and fall back asleep with some trouble just to have it again. This was crazy, and it was hurting me in every possible way. It was the kind of pain that didn't go away when you said "no" or "yes" or any other sort of answer. It was the kind of pain that was in you and stuck as much as barbed wire, pulling at you and tearing you apart the more you struggled, and even if you didn't struggle, it still hurt.

I stared at the ceiling, trying to find something to take my mind off of the romantic rollercoaster I was riding, but nothing could do it. Even looking at the pure white ceiling I could see Natsumi's red-brown eyes looking at me, trying to meet my gaze, and I turned away, now staring at the door. I clutched my blankets firmly, not caring that only half of my body was actually covered because of my erratic tossing and turning. I couldn't feel the cold on my bare feet anyways, even if I was so near the window, because all I could wrap my mind around was Natsumi's confession. She said that she loved me. She had done it before, when she was drunk, but it was different now. The drunken confession I had actually believed she was just saying things that weren't herself… but now…

I tightened my grip on the blanket, as the tears started to well up in my eyes. So much for a wonderful Christmas; thank goodness Natsumi and I had only exchanged gifts this morning, so that I didn't have to see her any more. No doubt she was probably asleep; as I checked my clock and saw it was near four in the morning, so I was willing to bet that she had finally fallen asleep. She had knocked on my door a few times, calling my name and trying to check up on me, but I wasn't able to answer. It was as if there was a force against myself that was keeping my lips shut. Maybe it was trying to protect me, as I didn't know how I was going to react to my best friend telling me she loved me.

Little did I know that this was only going to be the start to our problems.

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I wasn't able to sleep for the next two hours, so I "woke up" at six, when it was still dark, and quietly slipped out of the house. Natsumi's bike was in the driveway, along with my car, so I turned my head to look over my shoulder, and then started to work. I put chains on the tires of Natsumi's bike, thicker than before for better traction, and then got into my car and started to drive off to work. I couldn't see her first thing in the morning; it was hard enough just seeing the note on the table that she had written before she went to bed that said "Good night."

It was silent in the car, and even more silent in the Bokuto Precinct, when I actually walked into the building. There were a few people there, like Detective Tokono, and the Captain, but other than that, not too many more. Definitely no more from my traffic section, which meant that I had the building practically all to myself. I walked into the changing room and started to change into my uniform, taking extra time because I had it, as I started to mull things over a bit. Ken was going to be at work, and if Natsumi made it on time…

Oh god, I had just dug a huge hole for myself. Both of them at one place, at one moment, on the same _day_! I couldn't handle it, and I could feel the tears starting to come again as I was internally struggling with Natsumi's confession coming back to ring in my head. How was I going to deal with Ken, who was confused as it was because of my sudden screaming and running away from our date, and Natsumi, who I had run away from and ignored for almost the whole day yesterday. I finished changing and went back to my desk, listening as the Captain scribbled on his notebook and staring at the pieces of paper in front of me, waiting for my co-policemen and women to come in.

By the time that a couple hours had passed, there was a sudden rush of people as they all started coming in, trying to be on time, and in the midst of the rush I saw Natsumi and Kenny, both at different times, but I flinched. I couldn't deal with this today, and I wanted to get out of this situation, but I knew I couldn't take more time off of work since I had already requested the weekend of New Year's off. So I sat there, waiting for my punishment, as everyone started filing in and filling their seats, with some vacant because they had patrol first thing in the morning.

When Natsumi walked in, there was no greeting from either of us to each other; we were completely silent as she sat next to me and started to work on a report. Kenny actually said good morning, and I only smiled at him, unsure of what else to do. We were all silent, until the usually bubbly and obnoxious Yoriko jumped in. "What'd you all get from Santa, guys?!" she exclaimed, and we all turned around to see her and Aoi standing behind us. "And you two!" she yelled, pointing her finger first at me, then at Kenny, "How was Christmas Eve?" She had a mischievous look in her eyes, and I looked down at the ground while Ken stuttered behind me. She soon stalked off after him, trying to hound him for information, and Aoi stood closer to me.

"How was your Christmas, Miyuki? Did you and Natsumi celebrate?" she asked in the normal gentle voice that commonly had me thinking that she was a _natural_ girl, and I looked up at her. It hurt so bad; Christmas Eve and Christmas of this year were two days that I _wished_ had never happened.

"Well… you see…" Natsumi started off, trying to break the ice a little bit, as she could probably see that I was struggling with an answer. But then she looked at me, and I saw her out of the corner of my eye, with her big eyes that were pleading for forgiveness. I stood up defiantly and placed my hands down at my sides. I had gotten their attention enough so that Natsumi was looking at me still, but I couldn't see her because my eyes were clenched shut. _'I can't stay here and listen to this,'_ I thought, and then walked out of the room, saying that I was going to make some tea.

In truth, I wasn't just making tea. I was in the kitchen trying to calm myself down while making tea, since I'm a multi-tasker. I was still so horrified by the beginning of my day that I was trying to keep in the tears, knowing that I had been so much of a crybaby that I needed to stop crying. I had two people who cared about me, and that was one of the positives, so why did I have to keep thinking of the negatives?! _'I've always known that Natsumi loved me… but… never like that…'_ I thought, trying to console myself, but still getting nowhere. It was a hard for me to think of the good things when all I could see was that my best friend had told me that she loved me.

I closed the lid on the pot of tea, getting ready to bring the entire tray out to those in the section, but I hesitated with my hand on the lid for a few more seconds. I didn't want to see my fate so quickly, but I knew I had to be strong. This was no way to act, especially if I wanted to stop acting like a spoiled child. I had two friends who loved me, and just because I didn't know what to do didn't mean that I had to treat them like they were the people I hated the most. With that firmly set in my mind, I grabbed the tray and started back on my way to hell.

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It was a long day, and I left early, telling Natsumi that I'd see her at home. It was the first sentence I had said to her all day, and she looked shocked by it, but agreed nonetheless. I think I got her hopes up when I told her that I'd see her at home, and talking to her only expanded those hopes. I was so horrible sometimes without really meaning to.

When I walked in the door, I set my keys down on the counter, and pulled out a piece of scrap paper and a pen. _"Dear Natsumi"_ I started to write, and then continued until I had a whole sheet of paper lined up with an excuse note for where I was going to be for the rest of the night. I had lied at the precinct, something I had never done to Natsumi unless it was about a Christmas present or something, but I couldn't find another way. Natsumi wasn't a good cook, so I either had to cook for her or she had to order take-out, which I personally did not like at all. She required me to do a lot around the house, and no doubt after speaking to her once at the station, she was probably itching to make some small talk, and maybe try to smooth over what had happened yesterday.

I set down the pen on the counter, after signing my name, and took one last look at it. I felt horrible, leaving Natsumi like this, but I had to. I had already talked to Aoi, and she had said it was perfectly fine with her and Yoriko, so I had little to fear. _'… I'll see you tomorrow…'_ I thought, almost as if I was going to tell Natsumi that, and picked up my keys and walked out the door.

Later on, Natsumi would get home, inevitably, find that I wasn't there, and read the following:

_Dear Natsumi,_

_I'm staying over at a friend's house tonight. I'm sorry for the quick rush, but there was something that she needed, and it sounds like I'll be busy for a long time. I took the car, but there are spare chains for your wheels in the garage. _

_Money's by the door for take out. Otherwise, please don't blow up the kitchen._

_Miyuki._

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Review Replies:

**Hunter49a: **… So are you trying to tell me the chapter was bad? Not really sure if you sitting on the edge of your seat because of the cat is a good or bad comment… Or is the cat a fan too?

**ShoujoGirl:** I'm glad you like them! There should be more shojouai… there's not enough, man. Anyone can see that this couple has potential! Have you ever read/seen the series called "Negima!"? It also has a very cute couple in there: Konoka and Setsuna.

**Major Mike Powell III:** Settle. Settle. It's okay. Think about it realistically; Miyuki's having a hard time, so obviously she's not going to jump into Natsumi's arms and end a fluffy story. And this would be _my_ fanfiction, which I think is going pretty well. This is realistic writing, so if you don't like it, I'm sorry, but this is how I planned it. I'll warn you now that there will be something bad in the next chapter, so if the heartbreak in 13 you couldn't stand, you might just wanna stop.

**Syaoran Li Clow: **I know it's mean, but that's how it was planned, and I loved that chapter just for how it wrote itself. Everything can happen now, which is why I wanted that to happen. When chapter 15 comes up, you'll see that there are only two ways to go from there, so there're a few less choices.

**LunarMikeo07:** Yay! I'm glad you liked it; it was hard work, but I wanted to do it for you guys. Sorry about the cliffhanger; I totally forgot about it until I posted it, and then figured posting up another chapter might ease you guys.

**Rankuro:** You got your wish! And I'm feel bad for Natsumi too.

**Ominae:** … The chapter or Miyuki's reaction was bad? –worries-

**Shini-Chii:** No, they aren't the last three. But actually, there are only two more in the series! –gasp- Oh no, I can't believe it! I actually do feel really bad that it's ending so quick… Thank you for your comment, and yes, this one is angsty too… Sorry.


	15. Almost At the End

Chapter Fifteen: Almost At the End 

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Oh… oh man.

One more chapter after this.

Just for your info, this chapter will have some INSANE cliffhangers at the end. But fear not; the next chapter will be up on Monday (unless you're in Britain or somewhere, where it will most likely be Tuesday), so be patient, and you will have your end!

That sounds so ominous. xD

Please stick around, for it is time to get to the grand finale of this fic!

Soundtrack for last chapter was "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. (Forgot to put that in.)

Soundtrack for _this_ chapter is:

"_What's Left of Me" _by Nick Lachey.

Enjoy.

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It was like that for the next week. We even spent New Year's apart from each other it had become so bad. She couldn't look at me without quickly looking away, and the only communication that we had was through the notes that she left me on the counter, and the one-word replies I rarely left her. It was as if I had messed up her life, and I had to really start living on my own seeing as she wasn't around the house anymore. I didn't see her before she went to bed, nor did I see her in the morning before work, and for those few agonizing hours that we sat next to each other at the precinct, we barely whispered a word to each other.

It was bad enough that we were hardly speaking, but when it really hurt was when we were alone in the car together, driving on our patrols. At first, I tried making conversation with her, just asking her about her friends that she had been staying with, and things along those lines, but the conversations ended with Miyuki's one-lined replies that I couldn't respond to. In fact, once we were in the start of the New Year, we didn't even talk in the car. I worked the radio and the computer while she drove, and whenever I looked up from my work, it was to look for suspicious characters or illegal activity.

Not surprisingly, our quota of busting the illegals fell to a dramatic low. But nobody would ask us what was going on; they knew that we were at odds with each other, but nobody knew why. Not even Yoriko. We had kept it a dead secret, like it had never even happened. And personally, I think I would have liked it better if it was actually a dead secret. If I had never told her my feelings, she and I probably wouldn't be in this situation. I knew that, and I bet that Miyuki knew that as well. She wouldn't ever say that, but I would be willing to bet that she wished I had never told her my feelings for her.

I wished that too.

Even though I was willing to forget what I had done, I knew that nothing I said or did would ever let Miyuki's mind be at peace for what happened Christmas day. I had accepted the fact that I loved her, but I had no clue about her. The first meeting that we ever had, I thought that, for sure, she liked me. The hints that came along the way were subtle enough that they could have been her trying to lead me on, but I was sure about everything. I hadn't really wondered why I loved Miyuki because I just _did_. I couldn't give one specific reason, nor could I give a hundred specific reasons, because that wasn't how I loved her. It just… was.

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I woke up early on the Monday after New Year's. Still no sign of Miyuki; she was gone, as usual, and had been for almost two weeks now. It was lonely waking up in the house without her, but I was slowly getting used to it. After all, I hadn't always lived with her, and I was able to fend for myself. After rolling out of my bed and sluggishly getting dressed, I wobbled over to the fridge and started to pull out some milk for breakfast: Wheaties with a side of an apple, rice, and a garnish of soy sauce on the rice. Hey, when you dined alone, and you left me in the kitchen, there was probably no way I'd get out alive. I was happy that my meager skills in the kitchen included how to use a rice cooker, so that supplied the majority of most of my meals.

I ate breakfast alone. The whole house was quiet. I wished that we had adopted a cat or something, or I had borrowed Chibi from Oshou so I would have a little company. I could never get used to the silence that greeted me every morning for over a week now, and, though I hated to admit it, I missed the arguing that Miyuki and I would have over me eating my breakfast, or me sleeping in, or something like that. I missed her walking around the house and threatening to leave me while she went to work. I missed her prancing in front of me as she went to hog the bathroom, and the way she pouted when she had lost the keys, or her angry smile when she found out that I had taken them.

A few tears dropped onto the table, and I quickly put down my bowl and wiped them off of my cheeks. This was why it hurt so much; the fact that I couldn't be a part of the life that Miyuki lived anymore. Anything that I would see now wouldn't be the normal Miyuki. I had lost the part that I loved about her the most, and I was scared that I wouldn't see it again. I wolfed down the rest of my breakfast, and headed off to work, ready to face the snowy roads again on my bike.

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_Natsumi,_

_I'm working on the patrol car this morning. All the paperwork is done except for the report you were working on yesterday. Please finish it and hand it in to the Captain. Come and get me when it's time for our patrol._

_Miyuki._

I found that note when I walked into the traffic section of the building and looked at my desk. It was on a piece of paper that had been taped onto my desk, and next to it lay the report that I had been writing. It was strange that we could go nearly two weeks without talking to each other and still she knew exactly what I was doing at all times. Although this note was just another excuse to avoid me, I couldn't help but smile; these notes still meant that she was thinking about me.

I sat down at my desk and, for once, enjoyed the peace and quiet that filled the room. Clicking fingers on the keyboards, the scratching on pencil on paper, and the slight buzz whenever a phone rang, it was almost like bliss. It was the calmest that this place had been since before Christmas, and for once I wasn't being pestered by Yoriko or Aoi, who had been the two people who had housed Miyuki the most during our time apart. They were, instead, sitting quietly at their desks, most likely working on reports like I was. They had tea beside them, which Aoi sipped occasionally, but Yoriko was too into her report, or whatever she was doing, to even look at it.

I worked on, and eventually finished, my report like Miyuki had asked me to. When I was done, it was about time for us to go on our patrol. My heart leapt into my throat, and I had a hard time breathing for a minute, until I stood and started to walk out of the section. I felt like everyone's eyes were on me as I closed the door behind me, took a long breath, and then released it and started walking towards the garage.

When I got there, walking a little slower than usual, almost dreading to see her now, I stood in the doorway of the garage. She was underneath the car, working with something, completely entranced with her work. That was her way of saying that there was something on her mind, when she started working with the complicated stuff of the car. Her hand reached from underneath, feeling the floor of the garage, and I followed her hand to where a wrench was sitting a few inches from her hand. I gulped softly, walked forward, and then picked it up and placed it in her hand.

It was just like old times. She didn't take the wrench, but she grabbed the outside of the car, and rolled out, and we were face to face. She looked shocked as our eyes locked, and I saw there was oil all over her face, but it just made her look so cute. I tried not to look shocked and completely in love with her as I smiled, and for a moment I thought it didn't work. She looked away, and laid down to roll back under the car with the wrench. We stayed in silence for a few more minutes, and then she came out from under the car, and said, "Just a minute for me to take off my clothes, and then we can go, okay?"

Possibly the longest sentence she had said to me in almost two weeks, I nodded. I waited as she stripped off her mechanical uniform, revealing her police uniform underneath, and we both got into the car after cleaning up. She drove out, and we were enveloped in silence again as she was trying to drive. I didn't know what to say, or what I had done, but suddenly the air felt a little lighter. My heart wasn't pounding so fast because of my anxiety, but just because I was with her again.

"Natsumi?"

For once, I didn't start the conversation. I looked too quickly at her, still shocked, swallowed some air, and replied, "Y-yeah?"

She was silent as she looked towards the steering wheel, and I was starting to wonder if she had just said my name for a random reason. I figured that she had something to ask me, but I wondered if it was the question she was reluctant to ask, or actually talking to me that was making her nervous enough to pause mid-sentence. "… About what you said?" My heart dropped, and I swallowed again, watching her as my heart started to freeze, and a tsunami of shivers started to run up and down my spine, suddenly making my body very cold. "… I don't know what to say to you."

I knew that already. I wasn't surprised, and frankly, it didn't amuse me either. No need to censor what I was feeling; I was _pissed_. Not at the fact that she had, after two weeks, finally started a conversation with me that consisted of more than four words, but because that was all she had to say. I fell back into my seat, stared out the window, and muttered brutally, "Then why the hell bring it up."

It wasn't a question I wanted answered, but she slammed on the brake at the traffic light so hard that I figured I had hit something pretty hard. She was silent, and I didn't meet her eyes, and she replied testily, "Because I figured you'd want some kind of reply by now."

Oh, this was just perfect. Now she was turning into the voice of reason. She figured that I would want a reply from her now, after two weeks, when I had lived by myself and agonized over the fact that I hadn't spent any time with her outside of work since the day that she left me in the snow. I did want a reply. More or less, I wanted any sort of reply, because I wanted our life to return to something as normal as possible. "What a reply, Miyuki. What a reply," I growled, and then looked at her, and she looked at me. The traffic light turned green and we were off, and I took the liberty to say, "No, I don't want a reply. I want a freaking _clue_ on what the hell is going on," I said, and I didn't have any control over it. I was so angry tears were welling up in my eyes, and when she finally saw them, she could only look away.

"I want Miyuki to listen to me when I talk to her, and I want her to say more than two words to me!" I said, louder and more emotional than they had been before, as she kept staring dumbfounded out the window. "I want you to either crush me or love me, because dancing around on the subject is really starting to piss me off!"

"And you think it's that easy?!" she yelled at me, now taking an almost vicious tone as she continued to drive. I barely noticed that she was starting to accelerate faster and faster, because I was too into the anger and pain that had swallowed me whole since Christmas. "You think it's easy for me to know what I want between you and Nakajima?"

"Oh, so Kenny's proclaimed his love to you too, huh?!" I snapped, and she pursed her lips. She was getting just as angry as I was, and I was almost excited for it. "Kenny loves you too, and you know it, but you still talk to him, don't you?" It struck a chord, and I could see it on her face as she became focused more on her driving, "You have lunch with him, and talk and laugh with him like you two are best buddies, even though you know that he loves you!"

"It's different, Natsumi! It's just different! It's too hard to try to decide what to tell you!"

"AND YOU THINK IT WAS EASY FOR ME TO GO THROUGH WITH THIS?!"

It was a moment of silence, and she took her eyes off the road, and I could see that she and I were both crying with rage and pain, and then I looked through the car mirror. My eyes widened, "MIYUKI!"

She looked forward, but it was too late. One-way street, and we had entered it inadvertently while we were fighting and glaring at each other.

I always wondered what being hit by an eighteen-wheeler in our little patrol car would feel like.

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Review Replies:

**Shini-Chii:** That really touched me. I'm glad you enjoy the way that I write; sometimes I feel like I hit too much drama, but sometimes I feel it's too vague. –gives a Natsumi and Miyuki plushie pack- One more chapter after this; I'm trying not to cry.

**Major Mike Powell III:** I'm glad you see what I was trying to express. Angst is really hard, especially when we all want fluffy bunny stories (heck, I do, but this story isn't the fluffy one). I'm glad you'll see it through to the end; sorry about the cliffhanger, and I know that it'll probably make you mad, but still, ending will be good.

**Syaoran Li Clow: **Yeah, it was rash, but it might have been better than me beating around the bush for three more chapters until she finally confessed. Otherwise it would have taken me FOREVER to write them all. And love is painful sometimes, especially in this case. But I think the outcome is what makes it all worth it, you know?

**Hunter49a: **Just making sure; I was getting a little tender from the reviews and I do tend to read into stuff a little deep. Sorry 'bout that. You will get to read it, and, if all goes well, this should be up either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day!

**LunarMikeo07:** Thank you; I love writing intense confused emotions (especially because I experience them A LOT). Who couldn't feel bad for Natsumi? She's so amazingly strong that when she shows a weakness, it's a heartbreaking moment.

**ShoujoGirl:** You will have your ending. And I've watched a little of the live action, and I watched those episodes and nearly had a heart attack because I was overwhelmed with cuteness. I'm going to be started a series of one shots (maybe one full length story, but I doubt it) of Konosetsu after this fic. I love them! They're my favorite pairing ever. Also, I couldn't access the links that you sent me. Could you break up the link so that I could just copy and paste and remove the spaces to access it? Thanks!


	16. My Ending

Chapter Sixteen: My Ending 

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There is a story that accompanies this chapter.

There was this girl named Lizz. She roleplayed on Starclans Claws, a cat roleplay that I joined in 2007. She was in a car crash and became comatose. After a while, she was pronounced brain dead and taken off life support.

My dearest friend Kimmy was hurt a lot by this. I didn't know Lizz that well, and I never was able to comfort her.

I dedicate this last chapter to Kimmy and Lizz, to the best friend that I love so much, and to the roleplayer I never got the chance to meet.

Soundtrack list:

Part one: "Via Purifico" by Nobuo Uematsu (Natsumi) 

_Part Two: "Servants of the Mountain" by Nobuo Uematsu (Natsumi)_

Part Three: "Amazed" by Lonestar (Miyuki) or "I Will Be With You" by Sarah Brightman 

Thank you everyone who has read this fic and seen it to the end. You guys are my inspiration, and you make me feel that my writing is appreciated. Thank you.

Happy New Year, and if you wanna talk, submit a review you want a response to, or give me any more ideas for a future fanfic, please message me. You guys were amazing.

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_beep…. beep… beep… beep… _

'What is that?' 

_beep… beep… beep… beep…_

'… _Where am I?'_

_beep… beep… beep… beep…_

I hurt all over. My head, my body, my heart; everywhere. It all hurt, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I couldn't move. I felt like I had lost the ability to move, as I was laying in the dark, completely unknowing of my surroundings. I couldn't see, I couldn't smell, and I couldn't hear anything but that slow, constant beeping. It was like I was put somewhere without my senses, like a laboratory where I was the test subject, asleep and waiting to be awakened, yet having enough in me to hear the slow beep of a million tests being run on me. That slow beeping made my head spin, and as I slowly began to come to, I could feel certain parts of my body returning to function, but I was freezing cold.

I slowly began to open my eyes, and immediately shut them as light flooded in like the sun was blazing in front of me. I screamed, and it was enough that it drowned out the sound of the beeping that was somewhere near me. The screaming sounded hollow, and it hurt my lungs so I immediately screamed again and began a fit of coughing. It felt like the air was trying to force its way into me as I screamed it out. I could hear someone yelling. Someone was close to me, and they heard me, and they were yelling for someone; anyone. I was barely comprehending the language that I had known since birth. I could only hear yelling, and it hurt my ears, and I tried picking up my hands, but it hurt more than I wanted it too.

"Stop…" I was barely able to whisper, and suddenly everything went silent in the room. The beeping was still bugging me, and I wasn't quite sure if I had lost consciousness again. I was definitely doing something where I kept swimming in a world of black. There were times when I remember trying to move, and I was in so much pain that I tired myself out from all the screaming I did, but otherwise I remember nothing. I didn't know how long it would continue like this, but I remember it felt like a million years that I kept waking up, and then I would fall into this slumber where I felt like nothing could disturb me.

I was able to open my eyes eventually, although I had to do it slowly, and I vaguely started to recognize Yoriko and Aoi's faces. I couldn't speak to them, because my throat hurt, but they talked to me, and told me what had happened. An eighteen-wheeler and the patrol car had collided, luckily only to the back of the car. We had flipped and crashed into a series of mailboxes before hitting a telephone pole. The driver of the truck had been in and out of the hospital, trying to check up on me, but he wasn't there at the time. Aoi and Yoriko looked relieved and worried, and I looked at myself after they finished the story. An IV, and bandages everywhere. Funny how I didn't even seem to feel them.

I moved my hand, which hurt, but considerably less than it had for the past few… whatever days or weeks it had been. They said it had been just about four days, and that I had been in and out of consciousness for all of them. They also told me that there was a very large amount of painkillers administered into the IV drip so that I could try to move without too much pain. I watched them with dim eyes, as I tried to remember what they were talking about now. And then I suddenly heard Kenny's voice talking, and he came into my view. He looked worried, and then suddenly I remembered.

I opened my mouth, but remembered the past pain I had been in, and said nothing. I pursed my lips, and mouthed to them "Miyuki". Aoi understood, and she looked shocked at both Nakajima and Yoriko before saying, "She wants to know about Miyuki…" They all exchanged glances, and through furious whispers I caught shreds of "Can we tell her the truth?" and "What should we say?" I began to feel that something was wrong, yet I wasn't brave enough to try to say anything in my condition, and waited until they all turned around to face me. Each face was grim, and now that I was starting to become more alert, I could recognize that something_ was_ wrong. "Natsumi…" Aoi started, naturally having the most soothing voice out of the three of them, "… Miyuki isn't doing so well."

The heart monitor, what I had figured to be the source of the beeping that had plagued my head for the past four days, had a spasm as I suddenly stopped breathing. I started to breath again after they all looked at the machine, and after I took a few deep, calm breaths, the machine went down to normal and stopped it's furious alarm. _'Not… well…?'_ I thought, although it was slow and a bit delayed, and I could feel myself start to forget to breath again, so hurried to steady myself. She wasn't doing well. That meant that she was in worse shape than I was.

I was shaking I was so scared, and I began to cry in front of everyone. This time I didn't want to wipe it away, because not only could I vaguely feel them against my cheeks, but this was also showing how much it hurt. They needed to see this pain. I moved my arms, no matter the pain it caused me, and pushed down on the bed. Any person with normal muscles wouldn't stand a chance at moving them, but because of my intense training, I had a little. Aoi and Yoriko tried to keep me laying down, but I struggled against them, to the point that I yelled again with frustration, and found that my throat didn't hurt as bad as it had before.

Ken pulled them away, letting me breath, as the hospital crew came running in, asking them what was wrong. I looked at them, and my head was spinning as I sat up dizzily. "Mi… yuki…" I choked out, looking at the hospital crew as they looked at me, startled that I was talking and moving all at once, after four days of the complete opposite. "Mi… yuki…" I repeated, this time a little stronger, trying to get my point across. Ken looked at me, as did Aoi and Yoriko, but I didn't look at them. I was still trying to talk to the doctors that were in here.

"Miss Tsujimoto, you can't. You are in no condition to see her, and she is in no—" a doctor tried to tell me, but I wasn't going to take it. I slammed my fist down as hard as I could against the bed, which made a loud noise and a violent vibration up my arm, and I yelled with anger and pain as the doctors winced.

I glared at them. I hated it. I hated the fact that they were trying to baby me while Miyuki could be _dying_ in another part of the hospital without me. She could be trying to leave this world and I wasn't going to be there. "… Partner…" I squeaked pathetically, tears spilling hot down my face now, as I showed my heartbreak through my facial expression. A hand touched my shoulder, and I looked to see Kenny standing next to me. He said one thing, and one thing only, and I knew I couldn't thank him enough for what he said.

"She needs to see her partner. Miyuki needs to see her too."

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It wasn't easy, and I battled my way against the doctors as I tried to get to Miyuki's room fast enough. She wasn't going to leave without me. If I had any say in it, she wouldn't leave at all. But I had no divine powers, and I couldn't stop the inevitable; I could just be there to accept it.

We neared the door, and Kenny let go of my arm, and I clutched to my IV stand. The doctor pushed open the door, and helped me inside, thanking Nakajima for his help, and then brought me over to a bed in the center of a very dark room. The bed was pure white against the darkness of the room, where wires were hooked up to Miyuki's body from every angle. I looked at her, and I could feel my heart starting to sink as I watched her fighting for every breath she was taking. It was ragged and harsh, her breathing, erratic at the best, and it hurt to watch her.

The doctor led me over to the side of her bed, and brought over a chair that I could sit in. I nodded to him, still shocked at what I was seeing to be my partner, and he left us. I turned back, feeling as if I wasn't breathing, as I took in the sight. Her skin was paler than the sheets on her bed, lacking color, and she had so many needles and patches attached to her that it was almost like she was a robot or something. She had a heart monitor too, and I looked up slowly to watch the lines jumping up and down at a seemingly normal rate, with a jerk every now and then because of her infrequent gasps for air.

"Miyuki…" I said, as I stared at her face, her hands that lay limp by her sides, and her body that lay there like a silent corpse. It was hard for me to breath, and I felt more tears coming on as I continued to look at her with so much pain in my eyes. The tears came down my cheeks in little trails, as I continued to watch, unable to tear my eyes away from her. Only a few days ago, what seemed like a few hours now that I was awake, she had been alive and well, with a rosy color to her cheeks, and the coldest blue color to her eyes. And we had fought. We were lucky to be alive; she had stocked up that car with the best airbags money could buy, and now that we actually used them, I realized it wasn't a waste of nearly a year and a half's worth of both of our paychecks.

"Miyuki…?" I asked, reaching out my hand and touching hers. Against my body, which felt hot because of the sudden exercise, her hand was freezing cold. I almost tore myself away, but I couldn't, because I felt tied to her. It was the invisible string that held onto my heart that pulled me to her, and when I looked at her face, so pained because she couldn't breath properly even with oxygen supplied, the string tightened on my heart more and more. "Miyuki… you… you gotta get up…" I whispered, trying to keep my talking to a minimum just in case I hurt myself again. She didn't respond to me, and I half smiled, like this was a joke, and then instantly dropped it for a frown.

I was so scared she was going to die. I had never seen anyone I loved so dearly in this sort of condition, and looking at Miyuki now, I really thought that I was going to see my partner die. It hurt, and pulled at every part of my body, and the tears started to cascade down my face yet again, a mirror to the pain that I was feeling. "Miyuki…" I said with a little more force to my voice, and I crumpled down onto her bed, my head against the hard surface of the mattress as I rubbed my face into the sheets. She _couldn't_ die. Not when there was still so much we needed to talk about. Not when I still needed to apologize for being so mean to her.

I squeezed her hand tightly in mine, sobbing hysterically, and picked up my head. I looked at her face, so deathly pale, and I kept sobbing. I never cried this much, but I couldn't help it now; I had never had this much to lose. "I'm sorry…" I cried out softly to her, reaching my other hand to stroke her face as I spoke to her, "I'm sorry I yelled, and I'm sorry I was such an insensitive jerk…" I said, choking now and then between words, and continued, "I'm sorry I didn't wait. I'm sorry I didn't help more with Kenny…" I trailed off for a moment, looking down at the sheets and the hand that I was holding, and I looked up, and said, "I'm sorry that the last thing you might remember me saying was selfish and wrong…"

I held her hand a little tighter, wishing that she was holding mine back, and said, "I wish I had told you one more time that I love you."

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"_Miyuki Kobayakawa, come here for a sec."_

"_Yes sir." I stood from my chair, my breath hard in my chest as I walked to the front of the room. And there she was. My new partner, Natsumi Tsujimoto, whom I had researched for the past few days, eager for her arrival._

_But she didn't seem to like me at first. She seemed much more involved with hating me than she did with accepting me as her partner. In fact, maybe it was a bit odd, how we used the word partner as if it was just a word for a work buddy. It did seem a little weird to use that word unless I was talking to her; it wasn't as if I could introduce her as "my partner" all the time. _

"_And that is… well… I'm really starting to like you." I had said that to her on our first day. And it was true, even though we hadn't met before, because I admired the strength and personality that she had brought to me earlier that morning, before she was assigned to be my partner. Maybe it was then that she had started to see me in a different light. However, I didn't know how different that light was going to be._

"_I have my lover, Miss Miyuki Kobayakawa, here. Remember?"_

_I had laughed when I thought about her saying it. I thought that it was just a joke. Her saying that she loved me that night when she was drunk; I thought that it had to be a joke. I didn't understand that maybe she meant it when she smiled so warmly at me. _

"_I… I want to spend some time with you, and to have something special happen this holiday season."_

"_Can I… Can I give you something?"_

The memories kept flashing back to me, but I couldn't seem to stop them. I was caught in a black hole, as Natsumi's face and Kenny's face swirled around me. I didn't know which way to turn; either way one of them just happened to be there. It was frightening and hard to see them around me, and I didn't know what I could say to either of them.

"_What would you think if I said I loved you?"_

Love? It was such a hard thing to really know. I didn't know what love was, or how you felt it, or even how to look for it. I thought I loved Kenny, but when he looked at me now, there was almost no attraction. Everything had just slipped away. We seemed more like friends than we did lovers, and I didn't want to rush into any sort of relationship with him. He was just one of my friends, and even though he had tried to make his affections known to me, I realized that I didn't really hold anything for him. I couldn't find a reason for this sudden turn of events, but it was just there.

I felt something warm on my hand. It was squeezing hard, and tight, and I could hear apologies slipping in and out of my head like a trickling waterfall. _'Sorry…'_ I vaguely recalled, and found that I knew who that voice was. I knew who it was, and I was trying to wake myself up, but it was to no avail. I couldn't open my eyes.

It was a good while later until I came to. I felt like I had been hit by a truck, and couldn't remember why. I slowly opened my eyes, being greeted with dark black just like I had in my head. No faces though. I couldn't see Kenny or Natsumi, as I stared at what I thought was the ceiling. I felt like I was twirling somewhere, and as I slowly, almost drunkenly, moved my head around to see a heart monitor, an iv, and a lot of other equipment, mostly attached to me. I was slowly gaining consciousness…

That was when I saw her.

She was holding onto my hand like she would never let go. She was warm as she laid her head against my side, draped over the bed as she sat in a comfy looking chair. Her hair was over her face, her head covered in bandages, an iv stuck in her hand, and scrapes all over her neck, arms, and face. I could only imagine how bad I looked. "Natsumi…?" I whispered with enough power to reach maybe a centimeter in front of me, and I continued to look at her. She had been here for who knows how long. "… How…?" I asked, lost for words, as she moved her head a little, and sighed.

"Miyuki…"

She had said my name while she was asleep, and since she fell asleep next to me, I could only imagine how worried she was. I blinked a few times, still trying to react to this sudden tenderness I was feeling towards her. And, finally, I lifted my hand out of her grasp and stroked the top of her head. "Natsumi…" I said, louder this time, as I was beginning to get braver. I could feel the love that she had expressed for me flowing freely through my entire body, and never before had I felt so brave. "Natsumi…"

She started to stir, her eyes fluttering a bit, and she looked up. Her eyes widened, swollen and red, and she looked at me in awe. "Mi-Miyuki…" she stuttered, and then we had a long pause. We just stared at each other, like we had in the garage before we left, and I felt like I couldn't leave her gaze. I swallowed nervously, and looked at her.

"Do me a favor…?"

She nodded sitting up a little straighter, taking my hand off her head and still looking in my eyes. I had decided my fate; I wanted to know how if this was how it felt when you were in love.

"Kiss me?"

She looked shocked at first, as all expressions melted from her face, but then her red-brown eyes started to flicker. God, I could continue looking into those eyes for the rest of my life. Slowly, slow enough that I felt it was like a dream, she came to her feet, still gaining her balance and revealing how many scratches she had on her body. Then she touched my face, lifting up my chin so that I could face her, and slowly, tenderly, kissed me.

And that was when I knew I loved her.

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Review Replies:

**Shini-Chii:** … We're setting clocks forward? Huh?? And of course Miyuki likes Natsumi more; but Natsumi doesn't know that, so she's still a bit touchy, you know? Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I figured it'd be a nice touch. I'm famous for cliffhangers.

**Hunter49a: **Happy New Years, and I hope you liked this chapter.

**Major Mike Powell III:** -sigh- How did I know I was going to get that reaction? I did try to warn you. You should have listened. P Anyways, I hope this is good for you: watch your responses in the future, though, because you could be making some poor little kid writing their fic cry. Remember that.

**Syaoran Li Clow: **Good song suggestion; you're right. I think that song might have worked with this chapter as well? I haven't watched Pokemon in a LONG time. I'm still a huge fan though!

**Shamanic Demonator: **Thank you!

**Ominae:** I hope you liked how it turned out.

**LunarMikeo07:** You're very welcome. I wanted to get this one done for you guys, especially for the New Year! You know: out with the old, in with the new!

**ShoujoGirl:** Glad you felt that way. It was definitely a hard chapter for me to write, especially because I know you guys would hate the cliffhanger, but I hope you liked the end!


	17. Short and Sweet:: Epilogue

Epilogue

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You wanted it.

I wanted it.

So here it is; the (slightly) fluffy epilogue.

_Summer Sunshine _by The Corrs is a good song to listen to.

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We had saved up all of our vacation days. It was one of those sorts of things that were just kind of decided without actually making plans. It was a mutual agreement, even if it meant that I got less sick days than I would actually like. But it was all worth it. Even if I didn't get to take days off every now and then, even when I would have slept in my bed than go outside in the cold, there were always our plans that would keep me going. We had set a goal together; our first joint effort since we had kissed at the hospital.

Of course, we had to first get _out_ of the hospital. After having an accident with an eighteen-wheeler, we didn't exactly wake up the next morning after gaining consciousness and walk out. It took us a while, but Miyuki slept a lot of the time, so I stayed with her. They soon moved us into a room so that I was able to watch over her, once she could breath without the oxygen tank and her heart monitor didn't fluctuate enough to gain any alarm from the hospital crew. Yoriko, Aoi, Ken, and even the Chief came to visit us, dropping us news that happened at work, and different things. Kenny had gotten both of us flowers, and Miyuki apologized for her behavior, and turned him down when he asked her for another date.

When we were alone, I asked her why she had turned him down. Hey, I knew that we had kissed, and I'm not naive or anything, but I just wanted to know. She looked at me like I was stupid or something, and then shook her head. "Why else would I turn him down?" she smiled at me, and I could feel my cheeks starting to heat up as I smirked in reaction. I reached for her hand, and she grabbed it. We spent a lot of our next few days in the hospital like that. We had gotten checked out by the time the second week in January was over, and when we returned to the apartment, it was like we hadn't been there for years.

That was when we started our plans. We told no one of what happened that night at the hospital, and although we were back to being friendly and close with each other again, nobody suspected a thing. But, in truth, there was a whole different magnitude to our behavior. We were together all the time, no matter where we were. When she smiled at me, I smiled back, and it held our own little secret in it. It was like being the murderers in a mystery game; that was how much we enjoyed it. Nobody suspected, and nobody asked.

Until about six months later.

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"Natsumi… Natsumi, get up."

It was her usual impatient voice grumbling at me first thing in the morning. I kept my eyes closed, and groaned in response. She must have opened the shutters or something, for a lot of sunlight poured onto my face, and I squeezed my eyes shut. "Miyuki!!" I whined, and pulled the pillow and parts of my blanket over my head, turning away from her so that she wouldn't try to pull them away. I could hear her growl with frustration, and I opened one eye to peer through the thin texture of the blanket just in time to see her walk away.

A few seconds later, I was up and out of bed, a mischievous look on my face as I got dressed and headed out into the kitchen. She was there, cooking something that smelled absolutely delicious, and I came up behind her. My arms slid against her sides as I pulled her into a hug, putting my chin on her shoulder. "Good morning," I whispered, trying to be as seductive as humanly possible, and from the smirk that she suddenly smiled, it was working.

"Good morning," she replied, putting down the spatula to put her arms around my neck and hold me a little closer. She giggled as I smiled at her, and she winked and continued, "You need to let me go so that I won't burn your food."

I complied, unwillingly, and went to sit down at the table, watching her from my seat just like I had weeks ago, before our fight and before our first kiss. She turned her eyes to look at me, and we just looked at each other for a few seconds before she smiled sweetly and continued cooking. Already I was smiling as warm as the summer sun was shining outside, but I didn't mind. I had someone in this apartment that was special to me, and, for right now, she was all mine.

As we ate, she and I talked about our plans, and how perfect the day was. It was such a coincidence that she and I just _happened_ to be thinking about the exact same thing; it was time to use up a vacation day, a few more if the next week looked good. While I finished my breakfast, she called up the Chief and told him that we wouldn't be coming in, and he seemed to put up little to no argument. We had been doing enough work to be considered overtime for _months_, so I guess he supposed that we deserved a little time off.

She came up behind me as I tilted the rice bowl into my mouth, and put her hands on my shoulders, caressing them gently with her thumbs. "I'm gonna go pack up, okay?" she whispered into my ear, after leaning down, almost as I had whispered good morning to her earlier, and she kissed my cheek. I was so surprised I nearly choked on rice and dropped my bowl, but instead I caught the bowl just as it almost slammed to the ground, and looked up at where she had been standing, only to see her turn the corner and walk into her room.

I blinked a few times, shook my head, and said, "Dammit, that was sexy."

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It was hot, sunny, and almost a hundred degrees outside. As we sat in the convertible, the top up so that we could actually use the air conditioning without cooling the rest of the world as well, we said nothing. There were no words that needed to be said; we were perfectly content with just sitting and staying silent. At least, until we were caught in traffic again, and Miyuki reached her hand out, letting go of the gearshift. I smiled, and took it, linking my fingers with hers, and rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb. We looked at each other, but that was enough. We knew that, without saying a word, we could express how we felt.

An hour later, we had hit the beach. Sunny skies, white clouds, and the beach that was as hot and crowded as it had been all last summer. We were lucky we got here early; if we had waited any longer (or spent any more time delaying each other during our packing) we probably would have still been stuck in traffic for at least another two hours. It almost made me feel bad for those people in their cars. But I didn't give it too much of my time; after all, I had Miyuki to think about.

"Race you!" she called to me, after we had set up our blanket and umbrella, as she took off for the shoreline. I smirked, and raced after her, feeling the heat of the chase and the beach get to me as we crashed through the water, just far enough, until I tackled her and we fell amidst a few waves. We came back up from the water, looking into each other's eyes, and smiling. We were now officially in the water, and I stood up to throw some at her, while she shrieked in surprise, and I ran, enjoying the chase.

We dashed through the waves, and then crashed in the sand sometime later, laughing as we realized where we were. We had come to the edge of the beach now, where a lot of rocks were, and we laid on the sandy shoreline as the waves lapped against the beach beneath us. We watched the sky and tried to catch our breath, laughing every now and then. There was no one around, and I felt her arm snake its way around my neck as she came and pressed her body against mine. I smiled, and wrapped my left arm around her shoulders, holding her close.

"Natsumi?"

"Yeah?" I asked, looking at her, as she looked up at me with her innocent blue eyes. I pushed away a few wet strands of her long black hair away from her face, and we smiled at each other, before she pushed off the beach and kneeled. My arm fell away, and as she sat next to me, looking down into my eyes, her hand cupped my cheek, and I just watched her, smiling.

"What would you think if I said I loved you?"

I smiled at her, chuckling slightly, as I looked bravely into her shining eyes. "I'd think that I'm pretty lucky. And that I love you," I said, and her face seemed to melt into the perfect angel's face that I had always seen in her. She tilted her head slightly, as we stared at each other, and then she came down to lie on her stomach, and kissed me. Nice and sweet, just like our first kiss was, but it was longer this time, as we lay on the beach, beneath the summer sunshine.

One word for this moment: bliss.

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Review Replies:

**Shini-Chii:** Thank you. I struggle trying to keep characters the same, and I am VERY glad you thought I handled Natsumi well. I love their characters too, so I didn't want to ruin them.

**Major Mike Powell III:** It's all right; I just wanted to put it into perspective. Some of my friends that write on here are only 13, and one is 12, so if they wanted to write a fic like this, I just wouldn't want them getting flamed. I couldn't tell you about the 18-wheeler; sorry! I am very proud of this fic, and this epilogue I hope was good enough too! I will check out your fics sometime soon!

**Hunter49a: **A sequel sounds good. Just gonna wait a little on that, because I want to get some Negima fanfictions in, along with a few others I've been trying to write.

**Syaoran Li Clow: **Yay! I listened to it while I was checking over the last chapter for spelling errors and such, and I thought it matched. I'm really touched you experienced something like that; I wish I had, because that's my DREAM kiss. Heheh. And you are very welcome.

**ShoujoGirl: **Good! This epilogue was just a sort of "You want fluff? Okay, here you go" sort of thing, just to tide over the fans. I'm trying to plan a sequel, but I might just do one shots after this fic. And I'm guessing you mean a full-length Konosetsu fic, huh? Glad you're greedy, because I planned one-shot and full fics for them. They're my favorite!


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